







Book . ..iLo- %_ 

(injyrighf N° Co^U 7. 

COUTRIGHT DEPOSIT. 










Building of the Temple 


Page 251 





































































































































































































hSssri 

E« 

»i o 


Copyright, 1923 
By Milton Bradley Co. 


Bradley Quality Boobs 


PRINTED IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


o 


l > 1 1 

«» c 


/ 

»IIC23'?3 

©C1A752698 


6/ 





Of all the stories which every child should know 
those from the Bible should be first. They are part 
of the instruction of the youth that cannot be 
neglected without a serious omission in his culture 
and development. 

As a general thing children find the words of the 
Bible hard to understand. Even the most thrilling 
of the stories is obscured by the old form of narra¬ 
tive in which it is told. The text needs to be ex¬ 
plained and changed and interpreted in the lan¬ 
guage of the child before it can be really enjoyed. 

The author of this volume has tried to write the 
great story of the people of Israel so that children 
can understand it and love it, without simplifying 
the words of the Bible into too familiar a style. He 
has adhered wherever he could to the very words of 
the Bible but at times has not hesitated to change 
them in order to strengthen the telling of the story. 












































iv_ INTRODUCTION _ 

The book offers no moral teachings, except those 
that come from the narrative itself. It is a simple 
story of the trials and hardships of the Jews as told 
in the Old Testament The story itself is wonder¬ 
ful enough and carries its own meaning. 

It is hoped that this volume will fill a long felt 
want for the nursery where the Bible story is a fit¬ 
ting end of the day; for the Sunday school where 
young children need to be told in simple words the 
story of the heroes of whom they are studying; for 
the every day school where the Bible is too much 
neglected and whose stories should be included 
among those that belong to the inheritance of every 
child; for the story teller everywhere who seeks for 
those great narratives that at all times are worth 
telling. 

Lawton B. Evans. 

Augusta, Ga. 







. 1. The Garden of Eden. 1 

2. The First Great Crime. 6 

3. The Flood. 9 

4. The Tower of Babel.14 

5. Abraham Moves Into Canaan. ... 17 

6. The Destruction of Sodom and Go¬ 

morrah .21 

7. The Trial of Abraham's Faith ... 26 

8. Searching for a Wife for Isaac ... 31 

9. Isaac and Rebekah.35 

10. Esau Sells His Birthright .... 39 

11. Jacob Serves for Rachel.44 

12. Jacob Returns to Canaan.48 

13. Joseph is Sold Into Egypt.53 

14. Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dream . 58 

15. Joseph's Brethren Come to Buy Corn 63 

16. Jacob Moves into Egypt.68 

17. The Early Life of Moses.73 

18. The Egyptians Are Smitten with 


19. The Egyptians Are Drowned in the 
Red Sea. 


85 
































Vl 


CONTENTS 


20. The Lord Provides for the Children 


21. God Tells Moses How to Build the 

Tabernacle .94 

22. The Golden Calf.98 

23. The Wanderings of the Israelites . 103 

24. Spying Out the Land of Canaan . . 107 

25. Punishing the Israelites.109 

26. Balaam is Made to Prophesy . . . . 114 

27. On the Border of the Promised Land 120 

28. The Last Days of Moses.123 

29. Rahab Saves the Spies.127 

30. The Destruction of Jericho .... 130 

31. The Capture of Ai.135 

32. Joshua Continues the Conquest of 

Canaan .138 

33. Gideon Is Given a Sign.143 

34. Gideon Overcomes the Midianites . . 147 

35. The Punishment of Abimelech . . . 150 

36. Jephthah’s Daughter.154 

37. The Young Samson.159 

38. Samson and the Philistines .... 164 

39. The Death of Samson.167 

40. Naomi and Ruth .172 

41. Ruth and Boaz .175 

42. The Young Samuel .180 

43. The Philistines Capture the Ark . . 184 



















CONTENTS vii 

44. The Philistines Return the Ark . . 187 

45. Saul Is Anointed King. 192 

46. Jonathan and the Philistines . . . 198 

47. The Disobedience of Saul . . . . . 201 

48. Samuel Anoints David. 205 

49. David and Goliath. 208 

50. Saul Is Jealous of David.213 

51. David and Jonathan. 216 

52. The Madness of Saul. 219 

53. David Spares the Life of Saul . . . 222 

54. The Last Days of King Saul .... 226 

55. David Becomes King. 230 

56. The Rebellion of Absalom .... 235 

57. The Death of Absalom. 239 

58. Solomon Becomes King. 243 

59. The Wisdom of Solomon. 247 

60. Solomon Builds the Temple .... 251 

61. The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon 257 

62. The Revolt of the Ten Tribes . . . 259 

63. The Wickedness of Jeroboam . . . 263 

64. Elijah Begins His Ministry .... 267 

65. Elijah Destroys the Prophets of 

Baal. 269 

66. Elisha Is Made a Prophet. 273 

67. The Death of Ahab. 276 

68. The Sickness of Ahaziah .281 

69. The Last Days of Elijah. 283 






















Vlll 


CONTENTS 


70. The Miracles of Elisha. 286 

71. Naaman Is Cured of His Leprosy . . 291 

72. The Flight of the Syrians .... 296 

73. Jehu Is Appointed King. 301 

74. The Story of Joash. 305 

75. The Last Days of Elisha ..... 311 

76. The Destruction of Sennacherib . . 313 

77. Judah Led Into Captivity. 318 

78. The Destruction of Jerusalem . . . 321 

79. Daniel Interprets the Dream . . . 325 

80. The Fiery Furnace. 331 

81. The Madness of Nebuchadnezzar . . 334 

82. The Handwriting on the Wall . . . 338 

83. Daniel in the Lions’ Den. 341 

84. Jonah Is Swallowed by a Great Fish . 345 

85. Jonah Warns Nineveh. 349 

86. Esther Becomes Queen. 353 

87. The Vengeance of Haman. 357 

88. Esther Saves Her People. 362 

89. The Return from Captivity .... 367 

90. Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls of 

Jerusalem. 372 

















THE GARDEN OF EDEN 

When God first made the earth there was nothing 

but darkness everywhere. The waters covered all 

» 

the land, and there were no animals, nor fishes, nor 
trees, nor any living man. To prepare the earth for 
living creatures God made the Light which he called 
Day, and separated it from the Darkness which he 
called Night. 

Then all the great waters were gathered together 
into the Seas, and the dry land was made to appear. 
Then trees began to grow on the land, and grass, 
and fruits; birds flew about in the air, and made 
their nests in the great forests that covered the 
earth. The waters had fish of all kinds, and creep¬ 
ing things, and cattle, and beasts began to roam 
through the forests. 

























2 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


The earth was then very beautiful, the sun shin¬ 
ing by day and the restful darkness coming at night. 
There were trees and grass and flowers everywhere, 
and all kinds of animals and birds living on the land, 
and all kinds of fish swimming in the rivers and seas. 
There was but one thing needed to make the earth 
perfect, and that was man, made in the image of 
God, who should rule over the fish of the sea, over 
the fowls of the air, and over all the animals that 
lived upon the land. 

God created man out of the dust of the ground, 
and breathed into him the breath of life, and man 
became a living soul. Then God planted a garden, 
which was the Garden of Eden, and there He put the 
man He had made. And the man’s name was Adam. 

It was a beautiful garden. Out of the ground grew 
every tree that was pleasant to the sight, and that 
bore fruit to eat. Flowers bloomed on all sides, birds 
sang in the trees, and sweet waters ran by shady 
banks of grass and ferns. In the midst of the garden 
was also the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of 
good and evil. All Adam had to do was to take care 
of this Garden of Eden. 

God said to him: “Of every tree of the garden you 
may freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good 
and evil you shall not eat.” And for a long time 
Adam obeyed God and ate not of the fruit of the 




THE GARDEN OF EDEN 


3 


tree. Then God brought all the animals of the field, 
and the birds of the air before Adam to see what he 
would call them, and Adam gave them names. Thus 
did Adam live in the garden, eating of the fruit of 
every tree but one, the companion and friend of all 
. the beasts and birds, and obeying the words and 
commands of God. 

But Adam was alone, for there was no mate for 
him. Of all things in the garden, he only was just 
one of his kind. Therefore, God said: “It is not 
good that the man should be alone. I will make a 
help meet for him.” And He caused a deep sleep to 
fall upon Adam, and while he slept, God took one 
of his ribs and then closed up the place in Adam’s 
side. Out of the rib God made a woman and brought 
her to Adam and gave her to him to be his wife and 
mate, that they should live together in the Garden 
of Eden. And the name of the woman was Eve. 

Now, indeed, were Adam and Eve happy. All 
day long they wandered in the beautiful garden, 
gathering the fruits of the trees, listening to the 
song of the birds, or watching the playfulness of 
the animals around them. At night they lay down 
and slept upon the soft earth, knowing no fear for 
they had done no wrong. 

The serpent was more subtle than any beast of 
the field that God had made. One day Eve was 




4 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


walking alone in the garden and the wily serpent 
said to her: “Has God said you shall not eat of 
every tree of the garden?” 

“We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the gar¬ 
den, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the 
midst of the garden we may not eat, for God said 
if we touch it we shall die,” Eve replied to the 
serpent. 

The serpent then said to the woman: “You shall 
not surely die. God knows that in the day you eat 
of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden 
your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods, 
and shall know good from evil.” 

Eve was quite overcome by the words of the ser¬ 
pent and looked up at the fruit of the tree. It was 
pleasant to the eye, and seemed good to eat. She 
put out her hand and gathered some of the fruit and 
ate it. It tasted sweet and harmless and Eve did 
not think about her disobedience to the words of 
God. She went to Adam and said: 

“Here is the fruit of the tree of knowledge; the 
serpent says if we eat of it our eyes shall be opened 
and we shall be as gods knowing good from evil. 
I have eaten of the fruit and I would have you eat 
also.” And Adam knowing what Eve had done ate 
of the fruit of the forbidden tree. 

In a short while they heard the voice of God in 




THE GARDEN OF EDEN 


5 


the garden in the cool of the day and Adam and 
Eve hid themselves from the presence of God among 
the trees of the garden, for they were afraid. And 
God called unto Adam: “Where art thou?” 

Adam came out from his hiding place and said: 
- “I was afraid and hid myself.” 

“Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I com¬ 
manded you that you should not eat?” demanded 
the Lord. 

“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she 
gave me of the tree and I did eat,” replied Adam. 

Then God said unto Eve: “What is this that you 
have done?” And Eve replied: “The serpent be¬ 
guiled me and I did eat.” 

Then God told the serpent that it should be cursed 
above all cattle and every other beast of the field, 
that it should crawl upon the ground, and that eter¬ 
nal enmity should be between it and all men. He 
told Adam and Eve that they should no longer live 
in the Garden of Eden but should be driven out and 
should henceforth work, and eat the bread they had 
earned by the sweat of their faces, because they had 
disobeyed God and had not followed his commands. 

For fear that Adam and Eve would put forth their 
hands and take the fruit from the tree of life and 
eat and live forever, God drove them from the Gar¬ 
den of Eden. They went forth to till the ground to 




6 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


gain food whereby to live, and behind them God 
set flaming swords at the gate which turned every 
way to guard the entrance and to protect the tree 
of life. 


THE FIRST GREAT CRIME 

After Adam and Eve were driven out of the Gar¬ 
den of Eden they had to work hard to raise food to 
eat. God had told Adam that the ground would 
not bear fruit of itself, and unless he labored hard 
the earth would produce only thorns and thistles. 
And furthermore he told Adam that when he died 
his body would return unto the dust out of which 
it was made. 

Adam and Eve went forth to labor, as every one 
since has had to do, but we may well believe that 
God who made them earn their living by hard work, 
also made them more content and happy in occupa¬ 
tion than if they spent their days in idleness. 

After a while Adam and Eve had two sons; the 
older one was named Cain, the younger one was 
named Abel. When Cain became a man he turned 
to tilling the soil for an occupation, and raised grain 
and fruits. In fact he was a farmer as his father was 
before him, thereby making farming the first as it 
is the most necessary of all human occupations. 

Abel the younger brother was a keeper of sheep. 




THE FIRST GREAT CRIME 


7 


He loved the flocks and herds that gave man meat, 
and raised lambs for the sacrifices that God had 
already told them they must make. While Cain was 
plowing the ground, sowing the seed, and reaping 
his harvest, Abel was tending to his flocks on the 
hillsides or following them as they wandered through 
the valleys searching for food and water. The 
brothers probably lived very happily together, so 
long as they obeyed God and did right. 

God had told both of them that they must offer 
sacrifices unto the Lord, and should do so with a 
loving and devout heart. An altar was to be built 
of stones, or of earth, with a flat top and a place for 
wood that should consume the offering with fire. 
Upon the altar the offering was to be placed, the 
wood was to be set on fire, and while the offering 
was ascending to heaven in the shape of smoke, 
he who was making the offering was to repent of his 
sins and think of the goodness of God to all his 
living creatures. 

Cain brought his offering of the fruit of the ground, 
such as grain and other things he had raised, and 
having built his altars he tried to consume his offer¬ 
ing with fire. But the heart of Cain was wicked, 
and his offering did not please the Lord, and Cain 
knew it and was angry. 

Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock, a young 




8 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


lamb, and having built his altar, he also tried to 
consume his offering. And the heart of Abel was 
good and he loved the Lord, so that the Lord had 
respect unto his offering, and Abel knew it and was 
glad. 

When Cain knew that the Lord was pleased with 
the offering of Abel, he became still more angry and 
began to hate his brother. Instead of repenting of 
his evil heart and offering a sacrifice that would 
please the Lord, he became more wicked and more 
jealous of his younger brother. 

“Why are you so angry, and why is your face so 
downcast? If you do right I shall be pleased with 
you; if you do wrong the fault is your own and sin 
lies at your own door,” the Lord said unto Cain. 

Cain answered not a word, nor did he repent in 
anywise of his sin, nor did he forgive his brother 
for having received favor in the sight of the Lord. 
Bitter words were spoken by Cain and Abel, and 
one day when they were in the field, Cain fell upon 
his young brother and killed him, and left him dead 
in the field beside his flocks. 

Terrified at this awful crime Cain fled but he could 
not get away from the presence of the Lord. The 
voice of the Lord called unto him and said: “Cain, 
where is Abel, your brother?” 

Cain now added falsehood to his crime by answer- 




THE FLOOD 


9 


ing the Lord: “I know not; am I my brother’s 
keeper?” 

The Lord knew very well that Cain had slain his 
brother, and as a punishment told him that when 
he tilled the ground it would not yield any harvest; 
only thorns and thistles, and weeds would grow for 
him instead of the grain and fruit he had once 
raised so abundantly. Since he had disobeyed God 
and had killed his brother he should from that time 
be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, always 
moving from place to place and never finding any rest. 

Then Cain cried out: “My punishment is greater 
than I can bear. The Lord has driven me forth and 
has hidden his face from me, and now everyone that 
sees me shall try to kill me.” 

But the Lord did not intend for Cain to be killed, 
so He set a mark on him that anyone seeing him 
should know by the mark that he was to suffer for 
his sin, but was not to be killed. And Cain went 
away from the place where he was born, and wan¬ 
dered into a far country. 

THE FLOOD 

After many years the earth became full of people, 
but they were very wicked and did not obey the 
Lord as they should. The Lord was not only sorry 




10_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

he had made so many people, but he was angry at 
the way they had forsaken his teachings. Therefore, 
when He saw so much wickedness in the world He 
said: “I will destroy man whom I have created from 
the face of the earth.” At the same time the Lord 
said He would destroy all the animals, and the birds, 
and the creeping things, in fact everything that 
lived He intended to destroy. 

There was one good man named Noah whom the 
Lord did not wish to destroy. He had found grace 
in the eyes of the Lord, for he and his sons and their 
wives had worshiped the Lord and obeyed all his 
orders, and had not followed the wicked ways of 
the people of the earth. 

The Lord told Noah that the end of all flesh had 
come and that He intended to destroy all living 
things, except Noah and his family, and that He 
would do this by a great flood that should cover the 
face of the earth and drown all the people and every¬ 
thing that was alive. 

God told Noah to build an ark, which was a great 
boat in which Noah and the others were to live while 
the waters covered the earth. The ark was to have 
a covering like a house, with a door and a window, 
and was to be three stories high. Everything was 
to be provided to care for all those that God intended 
to go into the ark. 




THE FLOOD 


11 


It took Noah a long time to build the ark, and by 
the time he had it finished he was six hundred years 
old. Then God told him to take his wife, and his 
sons and their wives and go into the ark for the 
flood was coming and everybody and everything 
outside the ark would be destroyed. 

God also commanded Noah to take into the ark 
two of every kind of animal, and bird, and creeping 
thing, so that when the flood was over, the earth 
should again have living things of all kinds upon it. 
And Noah did as the Lord commanded him. The 
animals of all kinds marched into the ark and the 
birds flew in and the reptiles crept in, until the ark 
was full of living things. 

Then Noah and his family went into the ark, and 
closed the doors and the windows for they knew the 
Lord would do as he had told them. Seven days 
afterwards the rain began to descend and it rained 
forty days and forty nights. It was not a rain such 
as we know, for the Bible says the windows of the 
heavens were opened and the fountains of the deep 
were broken up, by which is meant that the rain 
came down in great torrents, and the rivers and the 
seas began to boil and rise over the land. 

The ark rose and floated upon the waters, with 
Noah and his family and all the animals and birds 
and living things safe inside, with food to last them 





12 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


for a long time. The waters rose until the level 
ground was covered, then the trees disappeared 
and then the hills, until as far as one could see it 
was all water. 

When the wicked people saw the waters rise they 
fled to the high places, then they climbed the hills, 
but they could not escape the flood. The waters 
rose behind them no matter where they fled until 
at last they were all drowned. The animals and the 
creeping things perished, mid even the birds having 
no trees to rest in, fell dead into the water. At last 
there was no living thing left upon the earth except 
Noah and his family and those whom God had 
allowed to enter the ark. 

For one hundred and fifty days the water was 
upon the earth and the ark floated about guided by 
the hand of God, Himself. Noah and his family lived 
in the ark, took care of all the animals and living 
things committed to their care and trusted in God 
to bring them safely out of the flood. 

At last the waters began to flow back into the 
rivers and oceans. The tops of the mountains and 
of the hills began to appear. One day the ark rested 
firmly on the top of Mount Ararat, and Noah knew 
that the flood was over and that the waters were 
going from the land. 

The ark rested on Mount Ararat for more than 




THE FLOOD 


13 


two months, and the waters kept on going down, 
and the mountains and the hills appeared. Then 
Noah opened a window and sent forth a raven to 
fly over the waters, but what became of the raven 
he never knew, for it did not come back to the ark. 
,Noah opened the window again and sent forth a 
dove. The dove flew over the waters but could not 
find any trees to light on or any food to eat, so she 
returned to the ark and Noah put out his hand and 
took her in. 

At the end of the week the flood had gone down 
still more, and Noah sent forth the dove again out 
of the window of the ark. The dove flew away and 
was gone all day, and in the evening when she re¬ 
turned to the ark there was an olive leaf in her 
mouth. Then Noah knew that the waters had gone 
down a great deal from the face of the earth. 

Then Noah removed the covering from the ark, 
and opened the door, and looked out over the earth 
and behold, the face of the ground was dry. How 
rejoiced he must have been to know that the flood 
was not to last forever, and to see the ground, and 
the trees, and the grass, and to know that at last he 
could leave the ark and build him a home to live in 
the rest of his life! 

Noah and his sons came out of the ark, and all the 
animals walked out, and the birds flew out and the 





14 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


reptiles crawled out and set about making homes 
for themselves. And Noah built an altar and offered 
sacrifices unto the Lord, for he loved the Lord and 
was thankful for his deliverance from the terrible 
flood. 

When the Lord saw the offering that Noah was 
making on the altar He said to him: “I will not again 
curse the ground any more for man’s sake; neither 
will I again smite every living thing as I have done.” 

God promised Noah that there should never more 
be a flood to destroy the earth, and that he and his 
sons should rule over all the animals of the field and 
the birds of the air, and that their children should 
be many and that the earth would again be full of 
people. 

In token of this promise God put a rainbow in 
the heavens, and whenever the rain falls and the 
sun shines we can still see this bow of promise re¬ 
minding us of the covenant between God and the 
old Noah whom he had saved from the flood. 

THE TOWER OF BABEL 

After the flood Noah had many children and 
grandchildren, so that the earth was full of people 
again. So long a time had passed that nobody 
thought that God would ever punish the earth for 




THE TOWER OF BABEL 


15 


any wickedness, and the people turned to their sins 
and for all we know the world was about as wicked 
as it was before the flood. 

God had promised that he would not send another 
flood but that did not mean that he would not 
punish people for their evil deeds. He did it in those 
days and he does it in these days, in one way or in 
another. We may be sure that when any one does 
wrong or breaks God's law he is sure to find some 
punishment waiting for him. 

Everybody spoke the same language at that time, 
and everybody understood what every one else was 
sajdng. In these days there are a great many diff¬ 
erent languages spoken, but at that time there was 
but one speech. A great body of these people jour¬ 
neyed from the east, and came to a plain in the 
land of Shinar, and dwelt there. 

Then they said one to another: “Let us make 
brick and burn them thoroughly." So they began 
to make brick until they made a great many and 
piled them up in heaps. 

“Let us build us a city and a tower whose top 
may reach unto heaven," they said. And they took 
the brick they had burned and began to build the 
tower. What they intended to do with this tower, 
or why they wished to build it at all, we do not 
know. At any rate it was not pleasing to God, and 




16 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


He came down to see the city and the tower which 
the people were building in the plains of Shinar. 

A great many people were working on it. Some 
were carrying the brick, some were bringing the 
mortar, and others were laying the brick in order. 
The tower was getting higher and higher, and the 
workmen were boasting that before long the top of 
the tower would reach the heavens. And they were 
all speaking the same language, and they under¬ 
stood one another’s speech. 

The tower may have been nearly finished, or just 
begun, or even half done we do not know, when God 
came down to see it, but we imagine He saw them 
building a round tower with steps on the outside 
so that when it was completed the people could walk 
up to the top, and perhaps worship the idols that 
had already taken the place in their hearts of the 
true God. God was angry with the people for doing 
this, and said: “Let us go down, and confuse their 
language that they may not understand one another’s 
speech.” 

All at once the people began to talk different 
languages. One man would say something but the 
man next to him would not understand a word of it. 
No one knew what the other one was saying, and 
when they all talked at once there was so much con¬ 
fusion that the people were astonished and did not 




ABRAHAM MOVES INTO CANAAN 


17 


know what had happened to them. Even to this 
day we often speak of a babel of voices, which means 
that when many persons are talking at one time in 
the same place, no one person can be understood. 

The people stopped building their tower as God 
intended they should, and they even left off building 
their city, for what was the use of people living to¬ 
gether unless they understood what one person was 
saying to another? 

Those who had spoken the same language went 
to themselves and moved away from the others, so 
that before long all the people who had come to 
dwell in the plain of Shinar were scattered abroad 
upon the face of all the earth. In this way did 
God separate the people, and give them different 
languages to speak, and made them dwell in different 
parts of the earth. 

ABRAHAM MOVES INTO CANAAN 

There lived in Ur a man named Abraham, who 
was a devout man with all his household, and feared 
the Lord. The people of Ur were wicked people and 
worshiped idols. Therefore, God said unto Abra¬ 
ham: “Get you out of your country and leave your 
kindred and your father’s house, and go into a land 
that I will show you.” 




18 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Abraham rose and took his wife Sarah, and his 
brother’s son, Lot, and his wife, and his children, 
and all their goods, and started on the long journey 
into an unknown country. Abraham was seventy- 
five years old but he was strong and vigorous and 
he knew that he was being led by the hand of the 
Lord. 

At last the party came to the land of Canaan, and 
the Lord told Abraham that he would give this land 
to his children, and his children’s children, and they 
should drive out all their enemies and the whole 
land should be theirs. And Abraham built an altar 
and offered sacrifices unto the Lord. 

Abraham kept on moving from place to place, but 
the people of Canaan did no harm to the wanderers 
for God was taking care of them. At last a dreadful 
famine arose and the grass withered in the fields 
and the corn refused to grow, and there was no food 
for the people and none for their cattle. Seeing this, 
Abraham and all his family moved down into Egypt 
and stayed there as long as the famine lasted. And 
when the famine was over they moved back into 
Canaan, and again Abraham built an altar and 
offered sacrifices unto the Lord. 

By this time Abraham had grown very rich in 
cattle, in silver and in gold. His herds wandered 
over the rich fields of Canaan, attended by his serv- 





ABRAHAM MOVES INTO CANAAN 


19 


ants and fattened under their care. He then sold 
them to the people of that land and saved the 
money he made. Lot also had grown very rich and 
his cattle also wandered over the fields attended by 
his herdsmen. Abraham and his family and Lot and 
his family and all the servants and herdsmen lived 
in tents, because they had to move from place to 
place in order to find food for their herds. 

The cattle of Abraham and the cattle of Lot some¬ 
times mingled together and often there was a dis¬ 
pute over the feeding ground, and even a question 
of who owned the cattle. As a result of this there 
arose strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s 
cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle, which 
might even have come to blows. Neither Abraham 
nor Lot desired to bring about a family quarrel, so 
Abraham said to Lot: “Let there be no strife be¬ 
tween me and you, and between my herdsmen and 
your herdsmen for we are brethren. The whole land 
is before you, therefore, separate yourself from me. 
If you will take the left hand, then I will go to the 
right, or if you will go to the right hand then I will 
go to the left.” 

Then Lot lifted up his eyes and looked upon the 
plain of Jordan that was well watered everywhere. 
It looked like the garden of the Lord or like the 
land of Egypt and Lot chose all the plain of Jordan 




20 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


for his cattle and herdsmen. Abraham remained in 
the land of Canaan and let Lot go his way into the 
plain of Jordan. 

There were two cities in the plain of Jordan, one 
named Sodom and one named Gomorrah and a small 
town named Zoar, but the people of these towns 
were very wicked and did not serve the Lord. After 
Lot had gone, the Lord took Abraham out from his 
tent and told him to look over the place where he 
was, to the north and the east and the south and 
the west, and said unto Abraham: 

“All the land which you see, I will give to you and 
to your children forever and you shall be as many 
as the stars in the heavens and the sands on the 
ground.” And Abraham was content to dwell where 
the Lord had put him and continued to raise his 
cattle and to build altars and to offer sacrifices unto 
the Lord. 

One day Abraham was sitting at the door of his 
tent in the heat of the day, and lifting up his eyes 
he saw three men standing by him. He did not know 
who they were, but, according to the custom of those 
days, when strangers appeared in need of enter¬ 
tainment, he arose to greet them, and running from 
his tent door to meet them he bowed himself to the 
ground. He then spoke to the three men and said: 

“Go not away from your servant; let a little 




DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH 21 


water be fetched and wash your feet and rest your¬ 
selves under the tree.” And the men rested under 
the tree as Abraham had asked them to do. 

Then Abraham hastened into his tent and called 
his wife Sarah and said to her: “Make ready quickly 
. three measures of fine meal, and make cakes upon 
the hearth.” And Sarah at once set about prepar¬ 
ing a meal for the strangers. Then Abraham ran to 
the herd and brought a young calf, which he told 
one of his servants to kill and get ready to serve. 
Then he took butter and milk and the cakes which 
Sarah had cooked and the meat which the man had 
prepared and he delivered it all to the three strangers 
as they sat under the tree. And the men ate of the 
food that Abraham had given them. 

THE DESTRUCTION 
OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH 

After the men had eaten of the food which Abra¬ 
ham and Sarah had given them under a tree before 
the door of the tent, the men arose to depart, and 
Abraham went with them on their journey towards 
Sodom. 

These three persons were not really men but we 
can suppose that they were angels sent by the 
Lord to tell Abraham how great a nation his children 




22 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


were to become and also to tell him what was 
going to happen to the wicked cities of Sodom and 
Gomorrah. 

As the men walked with Abraham they told him 
that the Lord intended to destroy these cities be¬ 
cause they were so wicked. Abraham was grieved 
because he knew that Lot and his family lived in 
the plains of Jordan. He thought there must be 
some good men in Sodom who ought not to be 
destroyed along with the wicked people, therefore, 
after the angels had left him, he said unto the Lord: 

“Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? 
If there be fifty righteous people within the city, 
will you not spare the city because there are fifty 
righteous there?” 

The Lord said to Abraham: “If I find in Sodom 
fifty righteous people within the city, then I will 
spare Sodom.” 

“If there be forty-five righteous people in Sodom, 
will you spare the city?” And the Lord said He 
would spare Sodom if there were that many righteous 
people. 

Again Abraham asked the Lord if He would spare 
Sodom if there were forty righteous people there. 
And the Lord said He would not destroy Sodom if 
that many could be found. Then He promised to 
save the city if thirty righteous people could be 





DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH 23 


found, or even ten righteous people could be found. 
Abraham then returned unto his tent. 

Now Lot and his wife were living in Sodom to¬ 
gether with their children. One day Lot was sitting 
at the gate of Sodom and two angels that looked 
* like men appeared to him. They might have been 
the same ones that appeared unto Abraham. When 
Lot saw them he rose up to meet them and bowed 
'himself to the ground and begged them to come 
into his house and tarry the night so that they might 
go on their way refreshed, but the angels said: “No, 
we will abide in the city all night.” 

Lot insisted that they should come into his house 
and when they came in he made them a feast and 
baked bread and set before them meat and drink, 
and the men ate of the food that Lot had given them. 

The people of Sodom seeing that Lot had enter¬ 
tained two strangers, came to his door and called 
« 

unto Lot: “Where are the two men that came to 
you this night; bring them out that we may know 
them.” Lot went to the door of his house and 
begged the people to do no harm to the strangers, 
but the men of Sodom pressed upon Lot and told 
him to stand back and came near breaking down the 
door of his house. 

The strangers inside hearing all the noise without 
arose and came to the door. Seeing the intent of the 




24 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


wicked people the men put forth their hands and 
pulled Lot into the house and shut the door. Then 
they smote the men outside with blindness, so that 
they could not find their way and they cried out 
with great rage against Lot and the strangers within 
his house. 

The men said unto Lot: “Sodom is a very wicked 
city and we will destroy this place. The Lord has 
sent us to destroy this people because they are 
wicked and do not serve him, but you must arise 
with your family and quickly escape, for fire and 
brimstone shall be rained upon the city and all 
therein shall be quickly destroyed.” 

When the morning came the angels told Lot to 
rise and take his wife and two daughters and escape 
out of the city, but Lot lingered for he did not wish 
to leave his home and all of his possessions behind 

him though he felt that it was the word of the Lord 

« 

and he ought to go. Therefore, the men took him 
by the hand and led him out of the city and said 
to him and his wife: “Escape for your lives but 
look not behind you nor rest a single moment for 
if you do you will be consumed.” 

Then Lot fled to the little town of Zoar. Hardly 
had Lot and his wife gotten out of Sodom before the 
heavens opened and a great rain of fire and brim¬ 
stone began to fall. The houses caught fire and the 





The Burning of Sodom 























■ 



















. 

. 






DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH 25 


wicked people were consumed in them or were burned 
in the streets. Not only upon Sodom but also upon 
Gomorrah and the other villages of the plain did 
the fire and brimstone fall, until there was not left 
any living thing in all the plain. Lot and his wife 
•and his two daughters fled before the awful fire, 
escaping for their lives as the angels of the Lord 
had told them to do. 

The angels had told them to flee for their lives 
and not to look behind them, but Lot’s wife was 
overcome with a desire to see the destruction of the 
city where she lived. She stopped and looked behind 
her, disobeying the words of the angels. When she 
did so she was turned into a pillar of salt so that 
Lot and his tw r o daughters alone were left to escape 
from the burning cities of the plain. All his cattle 
and goods of every sort were destroyed, but he was 
thankful that the Lord had given him warning of 
the great destruction that was to come upon the 
wicked cities. 

The next morning Abraham looked out from his 
tent towards Sodom and Gomorrah and saw the 
smoking ruins of those cities. Then he knew that 
there were not even ten righteous people in all that 
plain who served the Lord, and that the wicked 
cities and all the people in them had been 
destroyed. 




26 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


THE TRIAL OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH 

Abraham was a hundred years old, and Sarah his 
wife was ninety years old. God had promised Abra¬ 
ham that his descendants should be in number as 
the stars so that he could not count them, and that 
his children should possess all the land of Canaan, 
but Abraham did not see how this could ever be 
for now he and his wife were old, and they had no 
children. 

But God gave them a son and he was named 
Isaac. To celebrate the event Abraham gave a great 
feast when Isaac was a few months old, and all 
the herdsmen and the friends of Abraham came to 
rejoice with him. 

Now Sarah had a handmaid named Hagar, who 
had a son named Ishmael. Sarah did not like Hagar 
nor her son, because the Lord had said that Ishmael 
should also found a great nation and that his de¬ 
scendants should also people the earth. Therefore, 
Sarah made Abraham drive Hagar away from his 
tents. 

Abraham rose up early in the morning, took bread 
and a bottle of water and gave it to Hagar, putting 
the bottle on her shoulders for it was made of goat 
skin and was easily carried in that manner. Then 




THE TRIAL OF ABRAHAM’S FAITH 


27 


he sent her away and she wandered in the wilder¬ 
ness. After a while the bread was all eaten and the 
water in the bottle was all gone, and poor Hagar 
saw that her child was about to die. She could not 
bear to look upon his wasted face, nor hear him cry 
for food and water, so she laid him under a bush, 
for the wilderness was very hot and there were no 
trees. 

Then Hagar w T ent and sat down a good way off, 
and cried out: "Let me not see the death of my 
child/' and she wept because she thought Ishmael 
was going to die and that the Lord had deserted her. 
The boy also cried out for he was weak and his 
mother was not near to comfort him. 

An angel of the Lord heard the lad cry and saw 
Hagar kneeling in the sand of the wilderness, and 
came to her and said: “What ails you Hagar? God 
has heard the voice of the lad. Arise, lift him up, 
and hold him in your hand, for I will make of him 
a great nation." 

Hagar opened her eyes and rose, and behold, there 
was a well close by her. She ran and filled her bottle 
with the cool water and took it to Ishmael who 
drank, and Hagar drank of the water herself. Then 
they found food also and lived in the wilderness. 
The child grew to be a man and became an archer 
and found a wife out of the land of Egypt. And all 




28 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


his descendants lived in the wilderness ever after¬ 
wards. 

Abraham and Sarah were very happy with their 
son Isaac. The boy grew strong in body and learned 
to obey his parents and fear the Lord, and his mother 
and father loved him very dearly. God determined 
to try the faith of Abraham, and called unto him 
one day: “Abraham / 7 and the old man replied: 
“Behold, here I am.” 

“Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom 
you love and go unto the land of Moriah, and offer 
him there for a burnt offering, upon one of the 
mountains which I will tell you of,” said the Lord 
to Abraham. 

What a terrible thing to ask Abraham to do! 
Must he take his only son, his beautiful boy, whom 
he loved, and slay him upon an altar and burn his 
body as a sacrifice? How could he tell his mother 
Sarah, such a thing, and how could he tell the boy 
what the Lord had ordered him to do? The head of 
the poor old Abraham was bowed to the ground 
with a great grief. 

But the word of the Lord had come and Abra¬ 
ham never thought otherwise than to obey. Perhaps 
the Lord would some day give him another son who 
would fulfil the prophecy that his descendants would 
people the land of Canaan, or perhaps the Lord had 




THE TRIAL OF ABRAHAM’S FAITH 


29 


become angry with his servant and had changed his 
mind. And all through the night Abraham sorrowed 
for he was about to sacrifice his only son. 

Early in the morning Abraham rose, and saddled 
an ass, and took two of his young men with him, 
and a lot of wood for the fire, and little Isaac went 
along, not knowing why or where they were going. 
Abraham said nothing to Sarah of what the Lord 
had commanded him to do. 

Two days went by and still they journeyed, but 
the Lord gave no sign that they were near the place 
where he wanted them to stop. Abraham said but 
little by the way, and the men trudged along by 
the side of the ass that bore the wood. Little Isaac 
played by the roadside or held his father's hand as 
they journeyed on and on, waiting for the Lord to 
tell them stop. 

On the third day Abraham saw the place afar off, 
and at once knew they had come to the mountain 
whereon he was to offer his son as a sacrifice to the 
Lord. Turning to the young men he said: 11 Abide 
you here with the ass; and I and the lad will go 
yonder and worship, and come again to you." 

Then Abraham took the wood of the burnt offer¬ 
ing and laid it upon Isaac and told him to carry it. 
Then he took some fire in his own hands and a large 
knife, and he and Isaac started off unto the moun- 




30 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


tain to obey the command of the Lord. Abraham’s 
heart was very sad and he had nothing to say. 

“ Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the 
lamb for the burnt offering?” said Isaac to his 
father. 

Abraham replied by saying: “My son, God will 
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” And 
he and Isaac went on together until they came to a 
place that God had told him of. 

Isaac lay down his load of wood, and Abraham 
built an altar, and made it ready for the sacrifice. 
Isaac stood by wondering what his father would do 
for a lamb, but not asking any more questions. 
When the altar was ready Abraham seized his son 
and bound him with cords and laid him upon the 
altar, and made ready to slay him for a burnt offer¬ 
ing as the Lord had commanded him to do. 

Before the old man lay his only son upon the altar, 
with his breast bare and ready for the great knife to 
descend and take away his life. Isaac uttered not a 
sound, while Abraham prayed to the Lord for a 
few minutes. Then the old servant of the Lord 
stretched forth to take the knife and slay his son. 
But the angel of the Lord called to him out of the 
heavens and Abraham stopped to hear the voice. 
Then the angel said: 

“Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do 




SEARCHING FOR A WIFE FOR ISAAC 


31 


anything with him, for now I know that you fear 
God, for you are willing to sacrifice your only son 
unto Him.” 

When Abraham heard the word of the angel, he 
unbound Isaac and took him down from the altar, 
for now he knew that God had spared his son and 
that he was not to be slain for a sacrifice. Then he 
lifted up his eyes and behold, there was a ram 
caught in a thicket by his horns, which the Lord 
had provided for the offering. 

Abraham seized the ram and slew it and laid it 
upon the altar. Then the fire was lighted and the 
sacrifice was made unto the Lord, and Abraham 
and Isaac returned unto the young men who were 
waiting for them at the foot of the mountain. 

After this the Lord told Abraham that, because he 
had obeyed Him and had not withheld his only son 
from Him, that his descendants should be like the 
stars in the heavens and the sands on the seashore, 
and that in them all the nations of the earth should 
be blessed. And Abraham rejoiced because he had 
done right in the sight of the Lord and pleased Him. 

SEARCHING FOR A WIFE FOR ISAAC 

Sarah had grown very old, in fact she was a hun¬ 
dred and twenty-seven years old, and the end of her 




32 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


life had come. When she died Abraham wept and 
mourned for her, for she had been his wife for many 
years and now he wanted a place to bury her in. 
He spoke to the owners of the land saying: “I am a 
stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a place 
that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 

The people had learned to love and respect the 
old Abraham, and they said to him, “You are a 
mighty prince among us; choose any sepulchre you 
wish and w^e will give it to you.” 

Abraham said he would like the cave of Machpe- 
lah, which was owned by Ephron and which w r as at 
the end of his field. 

When Ephron heard that Abraham wanted a cave 
in his field to bury Sarah in, he quickly told Abra¬ 
ham: “The field I give you, and the cave that is 
therein also. Bury your dead there.” 

But Abraham did not want Ephron to give him 
the field and the cave for nothing, for he was able 
to buy it, and, therefore, he insisted upon paying 
Ephron for the cave. They agreed upon four hun¬ 
dred shekels of silver as the price. Abraham had the 
silver weighed out and paid over to Ephron before 
the sepulchre was made ready for the body of Sarah. 

Then the cave was opened, and the body of Sarah 
was put inside. The mouth of the cave was sealed 
with a great stone and marked with the name of 




SEARCHING FOR A WIFE FOR ISAAC 


33 


Sarah and of Abraham who owned it. Abraham 
mourned for Sarah many days and many nights, 
for he loved her and now he was bereft in his old age. 

Abraham was well stricken in years, and Isaac 
had grown to be a man. The time had come for 
him to choose a wife, that he might have children 
to possess the land of Canaan. Abraham did not 
want him to marry any of the women of the land 
where they were living, for they worshiped idols, 
but he wanted a wife for Isaac out of the land where 
Abraham came from, and where the people still 
worshiped God and feared him. 

Abraham called his oldest servant and said to 
him: “Go into my country and to my kindred and 
find a wife for my son Isaac.” 

The servant was afraid that none of the women 
would be willing to follow him out of their country, 
and told Abraham that it was useless to take so far 
a journey for nothing. Abraham then told his serv¬ 
ant not to have any fear, for an angel of the Lord 
would show him what to do when he came unto the 
land of his kindred. 

The servant took ten camels and plenty of goods 
for a present and some men to help him and departed 
from the land of Canaan on his long journey to find 
a wife for Isaac. At last he came to the land of Mes¬ 
opotamia near to the city of Nahor, and there the 




34 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


old servant and his camels and his men rested by a 
well at the time of the evening that the women 
went out to draw water. 

The servant saw the women coming out of the 
city, and approaching the well to fill their pitchers 
with water, and wondered if one of them was not 
appointed to be the wife of Isaac. Therefore, the 
old servant began to pray to the Lord: 

“Let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I 
shall say, Let down your pitcher, I pray you, that 
I may drink, and she shall say, Drink and I shall 
give your camels drink also, let her be the one that 
shall be the wife of Isaac.” 

Hardly had the old servant ceased speaking when 
Rebekah came toward the well with her pitcher 
upon her shoulder. She was a young woman, fair 
to look upon, who had never yet loved any man. 
She was the daughter of Bethuel, the nephew of 
Abraham and thus was already related to Isaac and 
belonged to the very race that the old Abraham had 
declared must furnish a wife for his son. 

The servant ran forward when he saw the beau¬ 
tiful Rebekah and said to her: “Let me, I pray you, 
drink a little water of your pitcher?” Rebekah 
hastened to let down the pitcher from her shoulder 
and gave the old servant water to drink. 

Rebekah seeing the thirsty camels kneeling near 




ISAAC AND REBEKAH 


35 


by, and knowing they also needed water to drink, 
said to the old servant: “I will draw water for your 
camels also, until they have done drinking.” And 
she emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran 
again unto the well to draw water, until the camels 
had satisfied their thirst. None of the other women 
who came out to draw water had paid any attention 
to the old servant and his tired and thirsty camels. 

Then the servant began to wonder if this beauti¬ 
ful damsel was not the one whom God had appointed 
for Isaac’s wife. After the camels had drunk of the 
water, the servant took a golden earring, and two 
bracelets and gave them to Rebekah, and said to 
her: “Whose daughter are you, and is there room in 
your father’s house for us to lodge in?” 

Rebekah replied to the servant by telling him 
who she was and said: “We have both straw and 
provender enough for your camels, and room to 
lodge in.” Then the old servant knew the angel of 
the Lord had brought him on his way and that he 
had found the woman who was to be the wife of his 
master’s son. 

ISAAC AND REBEKAH 

Rebekah ran to her home and told her mother 
about the old servant and all the things she had done 
for him. Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who, 




36 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


when he saw the earring and the bracelets which 
the man had given his sister, and heard her tell her 
mother about giving water to him and his camels, 
ran out to the well to see the man. 

When he saw the old servant and the camels he 
said: “Come into the house with me, for I have pre¬ 
pared the house and room for the camels.” And the 
servant and his men rose up and led the camels, 
and they came to the house of Bethuel, where Re- 
bekah and Laban lived. There they found straw 
and provender for the camels, and servants to wash 
the old man’s feet for they were dusty with long 
travel. 

The servants of Bethuel quickly set meat before 
the old servant and his men and bade them eat, 
but he said: “I will not eat until I have told my 
errand.” And Laban said to him: “Speak on.” 

The old servant stood up before Rebekah and all 
her family and told his story. He said: “I am Abra¬ 
ham’s servant. The Lord has blessed my master 
and he has become great. He is rich in flocks, and 
herds, and silver, and gold, and servants and in 
camels. My master has a son named Isaac, dearly 
beloved, who is the comfort of his father’s age and 
the hope of his race. If Isaac die without children, 
the family of Abraham is no more. My master has 
sworn that Isaac shall not take a wife from among 




ISAAC AND REBEKAH 


37 


the people of Canaan for they worship idols, but he 
has sworn that he shall have a wife from among his 
own kind and kindred. Therefore, am I come to 
seek a wife for Isaac.” 

The servant told Bethuel what happened at the 
well, and how Rebekah had given him and his cam¬ 
els water to drink, and how he was led by an angel 
to believe that she was the one intended to be the 
wife of his master’s son. When he had finished 
speaking he bowed himself to the ground and waited 
for them to answer. 

“The thing comes from the Lord, behold, Rebekah 
is before you; take her and go and let her be your 
master’s son’s wife, as the Lord intended,” said 
Betheul and Laban to the old servant. 

When the old servant heard this he brought out 
the jewels, and silver and gold, and the beautiful 
raiment which he had brought, and gave them as a 
present from Isaac to Rebekah. He also gave prec¬ 
ious things to her mother, and her brother, showing 
that his master was rich and was a great prince in 
the land where he lived. 

Then there was a feast and all the men ate and 
drank and lay down to sleep well satisfied with the 
result of their mission, for they had found a beauti¬ 
ful relative of Isaac to be his wife, and were glad to 
have her go back with them. 






38 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


The next morning the old servant arose and said 
to Bethuel: “Send me away to my master, and let 
the damsel go with us for we would bring her quickly 
to Isaac.” Rebekah’s mother and her brother begged 
for her to stay a few days, at the least ten days, be¬ 
fore she left them to go into a strange land. 

But the old servant insisted that he must go, and 
said: “Hinder me not, for I must return unto my 
master.” Then they called Rebekah and asked her 
if she was ready to go and become the wife of Isaac 
or would she abide for ten days in the house of her 
father. 

“Will you go with this man?” Bethuel said to 
Rebekah. And Rebekah, anxious to see the man 
whom she was to marry, and with all the eagerness 
of a maiden, said: “I will go.” Then the old servant 
departed and with him went Rebekah and her hand¬ 
maid. The women rode upon the camels, and the 
men followed them, and after a while they came 
unto the land of Canaan. 

Isaac had gone into the fields to be alone and 
think about the wife he was to have and all the 
great things the Lord had promised to his father 
Abraham. It was the evening and the sun was going 
down. Isaac looked across the fields and saw the 
camels coming. Then he knew the old servant was 
returning home and he went to meet the camels and 




ESAU SELLS HIS BIRTHRIGHT 


39 


see the one who was to be his wife. Rebekah saw 
him coming and said to the old servant: “What man 
is this that walks in the fields to meet us?” 

“It is my master Isaac, he whom you will wed,” 
the old servant replied. Rebekah lighted from the 
. camel, she was riding and put a veil over her face 
so that Isaac might not see her. But Isaac came on 
and met the camel and the old servant told him all 
the things which had happened. 

Isaac took Rebekah by the hand and lifted her 
veil, and saw that she was beautiful and fair to look 
upon. Then he led her to the tent which had been 
his mother’s, and she became his wife. And from 
that time Isaac loved Rebekah and was comforted 
for his mother’s death. 

ESAU SELLS HIS BIRTHRIGHT 

Abraham now gave all that he had to his son 
Isaac, and when he was a hundred and seventy- 
five years old he died and was buried in the land of 
Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, by the side of 
his wife Sarah. After the death of Abraham, God 
blessed Isaac and prospered him so that he grew 
rich in cattle, and in silver and gold. 

God gave Isaac and Rebekah two sons, Esau and 
Jacob, and Esau was the older of the two. Esau was 




40 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


a cunning hunter and went into the field and killed 
deer and other animals and dressed them for his 
father to eat, for his father loved meat. But Jacob 
was a plain man who stayed about home and looked 
after his father’s flocks and herds and managed the 
servants and his father’s riches of gold and silver. 
Esau grew to be a hairy man, but Jacob was smooth 
and fair of skin. 

Isaac, who had grown old, loved Esau more than 
he loved Jacob, but the heart of Rebekah turned to 
Jacob her younger son. Therefore there was but 
little love between the two brothers, for they liked 
not the same things and their parents were divided 
in their affections for them. Esau being the older 
had the birthright of his brother Jacob, by which 
is meant he had the right to more of the cattle and 
the gold and silver and servants and lands. Jacob 
being the younger must take the smaller portion of 
his father’s goods, and Jacob was not pleased with 
this. 

One day Jacob made a lot of food called pottage. 
Esau had been hunting and came back in the even¬ 
ing very tired and feeling sick. He saw the pottage 
and longed for the good food his brother Jacob had 
made. Therefore, he said to Jacob: 'Teed me with 
that same red pottage, for I am faint.” But Jacob 
would not feed with him the pottage. 




Bradley Quality Books 

/hr- Children 


LORNA DOONE 

By R. D. Blackmore 

ABRIDGED FOR JUVENILE READERS BY 
CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY 

Illustrated by 
Harold Brett 

This beautiful volume 
of Lorna Doone is pub¬ 
lished in answer to the 
demands of librarians and 
parents for an edition of 
this famous classic adapt¬ 
ed to the needs of juvenile 
readers. The text itself 
is unchanged, reprinted 
from the original, except 
that by judicious elimina¬ 
tion of some of the lengthy 
descriptive matter, the 
action is quickened and 
the interest of younger 
readers more easily sustained. I he typography, size, 
style and binding of this edition are particularly appealing, 
but its greatest claim to distinction lies in the quality of 
its truly interpretive pictures. These beautiful illustra¬ 
tions in color are from original paintings by Harold Brett 
who has made live a modern artist’s interpretation of this 
lovely girl-woman—an interpretation which excels in 
beauty and idealism the long known and famous painting 
by Wontner. With marvellous success Mr. Brett has 
caught and symbolized the influences and environment of 
the real Lorna Doone. He has portrayed with rare sym¬ 
pathy a fearless child of the wind-swept moors, with eyes 
that have gazed over wide spaces and absorbed the mysti¬ 
cism of the stars. This portrait leaves an impression of 
beauty and strength and character which makes a tremen¬ 
dous appeal to the imagination and will ever remain in the 
memory synonomous with the Lorna Doone the author has 
given to the reader. 

364 Pages Size 7 \ x 



















Bradley Quality Books 

/hr- Children 


THE GREATEST OF ROMANTIC CLASSICS RE¬ 
TOLD FOR CHILDREN 

THE THREE MUSKETEERS 

By Alexander Dumas 
Edited by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey 


Illustrated by 
Harold Brett 

This edition of the Dumas 
masterpiece is a real achieve¬ 
ment in the editing of a famous 
classic, presenting it in practical¬ 
ly the exact words of the author, 
yet by elimination of question¬ 
able passages, making of it a 
book which the most conscien¬ 
tious parents will not hesitate 
to place in the hands of their 
children. 

All the incidents of stirring adventure, the shining ex¬ 
amples of loyalty and courage, the fellowship and sym¬ 
pathy of the companions in arms, are retained. These are, 
in fact, emphasized for the child reader, by the deletion of 
the amours of Milady and details of court intrigue of which 
the normal child understands little and cares less. 

All historical features of the story are embodied in the 
abridged text. Through its pages walk Richelieu, the 
King and Queen, the Duke of Buckingham and the host of 
other folk of more or less importance whose triumphs and 
failures were, in the original script, interwoven with the 
career of the dauntless D’Artagnan. 

The superb illustrations are reproduced in full color 
from original and remarkable drawings by Harold Brett, 
one of the foremost illustrators in this country. No great¬ 
er stimulus to the imagination, no better builder of memory 
can be conceived than these truly artistic pictures which 
bring life to the characters and reality to the events por¬ 
trayed in this great romance. 

A superior gift book for children. 

218 Pages Size 1 \ x 














ESAU SELLS HIS BIRTHRIGHT 


41 


Seeing how hungry his brother was Jacob turned 
to him anfl said: “Sell me this day your birthright, 
that I may take your place as the older one and 
have the more of our father’s goods.” 

Esau was very hungry and felt very sick. He did 
,not care very much about his birthright anyway, so 
he replied to Jacob: “Behold, I am at the point to 
die, and what profit shall this birthright be to me? 
I will swear to you my birthright. Give me to eat of 
the pottage.” 

So Esau swore to Jacob, and gave him his birth¬ 
right and Jacob fed his brother of the pottage that 
he had cooked. This was very wrong of Esau to sell 
his birthright for a mess of pottage, and wrong of 
Jacob to buy it in this way. For when Esau had 
eaten he was well and strong again and rose up and 
went his way having despised the birthright to 
which he was born. 

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that 
he could not see he called to Esau and said to him: 
“Take your weapons, your bow and arrows, and go 
into the field and kill me a deer. Then make me 
some savory meat, such as I love and bring it to 
me that I may eat, and my soul will bless you before 
I die.” 

Esau took his weapons and departed into the 
fields to do as his father had bidden him. 





42 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Rebekah heard what Isaac had said to Esau, and 
called Jacob to her side. She said to him: “I heard 

t 

your father speak to Esau and tell him to go to the 

i 

fields and kill a deer, and make a savory meat such 
as he loved, that he might eat it and bless Esau. 
Now therefore, my son, go to the flock and bring me 
two goats* kids and I will make the savory meat 
such as Isaac loves.** 

Then Rebekah told Jacob that he was to take the 
meat to Isaac and pretend to be Esau, and while his 
father ate, he, instead of his brother was to get the 
blessing from Isaac. In this way they plotted to 
deceive the old Isaac who was blind. 

“My brother Esau is a hairy man and I am smooth 
of skin. My father may put out his hand and feel 
me, and then find I have deceived him, and I shall 
receive a curse instead of a blessing,** Jacob said to 
his mother. 

Rebekah told Jacob to do as she had bidden him 
and that she would see that no curse came upon 
him. And Jacob went to his flock and brought the 
kids and Rebekah made savory meat such as Isaac 
loved. Then she took some of the clothes that 
belonged to Esau and put them upon Jacob, and 
she put the skins of the goats* tails upon his hand 
and upon the smooth of his neck. 

Jacob took the savory meat and the bread which 






ESAU SELLS HIS BIRTHRIGHT 43 

Rebekah had prepared and went to the tent of his 
father Isaac. He said: “Here am I, father, and here 
is the meat you love to eat.” 

“Who are you, my son?” said the old blind Isaac, 
not knowing his two sons apart except as they told him, 
' for they were of the same size, and spoke much alike. 

“I am Esau, and have done according as you bade 
me. Arise, I pray you and eat of this venison that 
your soul may bless me,” answered Jacob and 
brought the meat near to his father. 

“Come near I pray you, that I may feel you 
whether you are my very son Esau or not,” said 
Isaac, and when Jacob had come near, the old man 
felt of the hands and neck of Jacob where Rebekah 
had placed the skin of the kids which she had cooked. 

“The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands 
are the hands of Esau,” said Isaac. But the old man 
was deceived and blessed Jacob thinking after all 
he was blessing the older son. Then he said again: 
“Come near now my son and kiss me,” and Jacob 
came near his father and kissed him, and as he did 
Isaac smelled the smell of the clothes he wore and 
of the skin upon his hands, and said: “The smell 
of my son is as the smell of the field, and surely 
you are Esau,” and he blessed Jacob again, and 
told him that he should rule over all the land and 
that his brother should serve him forever. 




44 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


JACOB SERVES FOR RACHEL 

Hardly had Jacob left the old Isaac when Esau 
returned from his hunting, and hastened to make 
the savory meat his father had asked for. Soon it 
was ready and he brought it to the tent where 
Isaac was lying, and said to his father: “Let my 
father arise and eat of my venison, that his soul 
may bless me.” 

Isaac rose and said to Esau: “Who are you?” 
And Esau replied: “I am your son, Esau, your first 
born, whom you will bless before you die according 
as you have said.” And Isaac knew that this was 
Esau, and he trembled for he was very angry at the 
deception which had been practiced upon him by 
Jacob. 

He then told Esau that his brother had been there 
and had brought the meat and the bread, and that 
he had eaten of it, and had already given away his 
blessing. Then Esau cried out with a bitter cry, 
and said to Isaac: “Bless me, even me also, O my 
father.” And Esau fell down before his father and 
wept. 

Isaac rose and told Esau that he should live by 
the sword, and that he should have the fatness of 
the earth, but that he should serve his brother, 





JACOB SERVES FOR RACHEL 


45 


until the time should come when he would lift the 
yoke of that service from his neck. Esau hated 
Jacob for stealing the blessing from him, and de¬ 
clared that when Isaac was dead and the days of 
mourning were over he would slay his brother Jacob. 

Rebekah heard the vow that Esau had made and 
hastened to tell Jacob: “Your brother Esau proposes 
to kill you, when your father Isaac is no more. 
You must arise and flee to my brother Laban who 
will take care of you until the fury of Esau is turned 
away.” And Jacob rose and fled from his father’s 
tents toward the land where his Uncle Laban lived. 

At last he came to a certain place and because the 
sun was set and he was weary with his long journey, 
he gathered some stones and made a pillow for his 
head to rest upon. Then he lay down to sleep and 
soon there came to him a wondrous dream. There 
appeared a ladder set upon the earth and the top 
reached to heaven, and the angels descended and 
ascended the ladder. 

The Lord spoke to Jacob out of the heavens and 
told him that he would give him the land where he 
lay, and to his children after him, and that he should 
found a great nation that should spread abroad to 
the north and the east and the west and the south. 
Jacob waked out of his sleep and behold the ladder 
and the angel were gone. But Jacob said: “Surely 




46 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the Lord is in this place and I knew it not/' Then 
he took the stones that he had used to rest his head 
upon and built them into a pillar and poured oil 
upon them and called the place Bethel, which means 
House of God. 

Jacob went on his journey and came into the land 
of the people of the east. He saw a well in a field 
and three flocks of sheep lying near it, and there was 
a great stone upon the mouth of the well. When all 
the flocks were gathered the men would roll the 
stone away, and water the sheep and then close 
again the mouth of the well. 

Jacob said to the men who were with the sheep: 
“Do you know Laban,the son of Bethuel and grand¬ 
son of Nahor?" The men said to Jacob: “We know 
him well, and his daughter Rachel will soon come 
with the sheep." And while Jacob waited Rachel 
came with her father's sheep for she kept them. 

When Jacob saw Rachel and her sheep, he knew 
she was tired and the sheep were thirsty. There¬ 
fore, he went near the well and rolled the stone 
away from the mouth and watered all the sheep 
that Rachel had brought. Then Jacob knew that 
Rachel was his cousin, and kissed her, and because 
he loved her at once he shed tears of happiness. 

Rachel ran to her home and told her father she 
had met Jacob by the well. Laban came out and 





JACOB SERVES FOR RACHEL 


47 


embraced Jacob and took him to his home and kept 
him there for a month, because he was Rebekah’s 
son. At the end of the month Laban said to Jacob: 
“ You should not serve me for nothing; tell me what 
shall your wages be?” 

Now Laban had two daughters, the older one was 
Leah, and the younger one was Rachel, and Jacob 
loved Rachel. Leah had some trouble with her eyes, 
but Rachel was beautiful and well favored. When 
Laban asked Jacob about the wages he should pay, 
Jacob thought only of his love for Rachel, and 
answered: “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, 
your younger daughter.” 

“It is better that I should give her to you than 
to give her to another man; abide here with me,” 
Laban answered. 

Then Jacob began to work for Laban, and he 
worked seven years, but they seemed only a few 
days for the love he bore Rachel. At the end of 
seven years Jacob demanded that Rachel should be 
his wife, but instead of giving her to Jacob, Laban 
gathered all men of .the place and made a great feast. 
He then told Jacob that it was not the custom of 
his country for the younger to marry before the 
first-born, and that Jacob must marry Leah. 

This angered Jacob greatly, but he complied with 
the demand of Laban and married Leah. Then he 




48 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


set about serving another seven years for Rachel, 
and those seven years again seemed but as a few 
days for the love he bore her. And at the end of 
the time he married Rachel also, according to the 
custom of the country. 

JACOB RETURNS TO CANAAN 

Years passed and many sons were born to Jacob 
and his wives. Then Jacob asked Laban to let him 
go back to the land of Canaan that he might see his 
people and dwell in the land where he was born. 
But Laban did not want him to go for the Lord 
was blessing Jacob, and by his help the riches of 
Laban were rapidly increasing. 

Jacob told Laban if he would give him some of 
the cattle to have for his own he would stay and 
feed his father-in-law’s flocks as he had been doing, 
and Laban agreed to this. Then the flocks were 
divided between them, but Jacob still fed and cared 
for the flocks of Laban. Jacob had taken care to 
select the best of the rams and goats and cattle, so 
that his own flocks increased very fast, and soon he 
became a very rich man. He had much cattle, and 
maidservants, and menservants and camels. 

Laban’s sons grew jealous of Jacob’s prosperity 
and perhaps were suspicious of the way his flocks 




JACOB RETURNS TO CANAAN 


49 


were chosen, for they soon began to complain that 
Jacob had taken away their father's cattle. Laban 
also grew jealous of Jacob, so much so that Jacob 
again desired to return to the land from which he 
had come. 

He called his wives to him and said to them: “I 
see that your father's face is not as kind to me as 
before. You know I have served your father with 
all my power and that he has deceived me and 
changed my wages ten times, therefore I am resolved 
to flee before his face and return to the land of my 
birth." 

Jacob rose and put his wives and his children on 
camels and took all his cattle and all the goods which 
he had gotten and started for the land of Canaan. 
He had a long journey to make and rivers to cross 
but he moved steadily forward with his face towards 
Mount Gilead. 

After three days, Laban heard that Jacob had 
fled. He took his men and pursued Jacob for seven 
days, and finally overtook him at Mount Gilead. 
But God had told Laban in a dream by night that 
he should do Jacob no harm but should let him go 
to the land of Canaan. 

When Laban came to Jacob he said to him: 
“Why have you stolen away and carried away my 
daughters as though they were captives taken with 




50 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the sword? Why did you flee away secretly? I 

i 

might have sent you away with mirth, and songs 
and feastings. You did not even allow me to kiss 
my daughters and in all this you have done very 
foolishly.” 

“I did this because I was afraid and I fled for 
fear that you would take your daughters by force 
from me and not let me have my cattle and my 
sons,” replied Jacob. 

Laban and Jacob agreed not to quarrel because 
the Lord told them that they should not do so. 
They agreed to separate peaceably and made a cov¬ 
enant, which was marked by a pillar of stones. 
Jacob made his men gather stones into a great heap 
and they made a feast upon it. The name they 
gave the place where the pillar was set up was 
Mizpah, which means, “The Lord watch between 
me and thee when we are absent one from another.” 

So Laban and Jacob agreed that neither of them 
should pass this pillar to do the other harm, but 
in case of strife, when either of them came to the 
pillar he should pass it in peace. 

Early next morning Laban rose up with all his 
followers and called his sons and his daughters and 
blessed them, and departed unto his own land. 

Jacob now went on his way but he feared that 
his brother Esau had not forgotten the evil that 





JACOB RETURNS TO CANAAN 


51 


Jacob had done him and was still angry with him. 
He sent messengers ahead who told Esau that 
Jacob was coming and that he had great riches. 
When the messengers returned they told Jacob: 
“ Your brother Esau is coming to meet you and four 
hundred men are with him.” 

Jacob was greatly afraid and told his men to 
divide the flocks that they had into two bands so 
that if Esau should come and smite one band, the 
other band might escape, and he prayed the Lord 
to deliver him from the hand of his brother 
Esau. 

Jacob decided to send a present to his brother Esau. 
So he took a great many goats and camels and 
cattle and gave them to his servants, and divided the 
drove into several parts. He told his servants who led 
the foremost part that if they met Esau and he 
asked them whose cattle they w T ere driving, they were 
to say they belonged to Jacob and were a present 
to his brother Esau and that Jacob himself was 
behind. 

He commanded the servants who had the second 
drove and those who had the third drove and those 
who had all the other droves that followed to answer 
in the same way. When the servants with their 
droves set out to meet Esau, Jacob took his wives 
and his women servants and his sons and sent 




52 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


them on their journey following the flocks, and 
Jacob was left alone. 

That night a man appeared and wrestled with 
Jacob till the breaking of the day. The man was an 
angel sent by the Lord, or he might have been the 
Lord Himself, but Jacob was alone as he wrestled 
with the man. The angel could not prevail against 
Jacob and so he touched the hollow of his thigh, 
and the thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with 
him and the angel said: “Let me go for the day 
breaketh.” 

“I will not let thee go except thou bless me,” 
answered Jacob. The angel then told Jacob his 
name should no longer be Jacob but should be 
Israel for he had become a prince that had power 
with God and with man. Then the angel blessed 
him and the next morning Jacob went on his way 
but ever afterwards he limped because his thigh 
was out of joint, and the sinews which held it in 
place had shrunken. 

After awhile Jacob met Esau with his four hun¬ 
dred men and he ran and bowed himself to the 
ground seven times until he came near to his bother. 
Esau embraced his brother and kissed him and they 
both wept. Esau was glad to see his brother and was 
astonished at the great number of cattle that he 
brought with him . He had long since forgotten the 






JOSEPH IS SOLD INTO EGYPT 


53 


evil that Jacob had done him and was no longer 
angry' with his brother. 

“Who are all these with you?” Esau inquired of 
Jacob. And Jacob told him they were the children 
which God had given him and his handmaidens 
and menservants. 

Then Esau asked him what was meant by all the 
droves of cattle which he had met and Jacob told 
him that they were a present he intended for his 
brother, that he might find grace in the sight of 
Esau whom he had wronged twenty years before 
for it had been that length of time since the two 
brothers had met. 

“I have enough, my brother, keep what you have 
for yourself,” replied Esau. 

After that the brothers came to an agreement by 
dividing the land between them so that all their 
flocks could find plenty of water and plenty of land 
to feed upon, and each one journeyed on his way. 
Thus Jacob came again into the land of Canaan, 
very much richer and very much wiser than he was 
when he had fled from it twenty years before. 


JOSEPH IS SOLD INTO EGYPT 

Jacob was living in the land of Canaan and his 
flocks and his herds fed upon the rich grass of the 




54_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

plains and valleys. He had twelve sons, the young¬ 
est of whom was Benjamin who was born after 
Jacob had come back to Canaan. The next to the 
youngest was Joseph whom his father loved very 
tenderly. He made him a coat of many colors and 
showed him other favors above his brethren. See¬ 
ing that his father loved him more than all the 
others, his brothers hated Joseph and would not 
speak peaceably to him. 

Now Joseph was a dreamer and one night he 
dreamed a dream and told it to his brethren. He 
said: “We were binding sheaves in the field and 
my sheaf arose and stood upright, and your 
sheaves stood round about and bowed down to my 
sheaf.” 

“ Will you reign over us, and will you have domin¬ 
ion over us?” asked his brethren. And they hated 
him more for his dreams and for his words. 

Joseph dreamed again and told his brethren his 
dream. He said: “I dreamed that the sun and the 
moon and eleven stars all bowed down to me.” 
And he told this dream to his father also. His father 
rebuked him and said: u Shall I and your mother 
and your eleven brethren bow ourselves down to 
you?” And his brothers envied him all the more 
but his father did not forget the dream that Joseph 
had told him. 




JOSEPH IS SOLD INTO EGYPT 


55 


One day the sons of Jacob went to feed their 
father’s flocks in a far off land and Jacob said to 
Joseph: “Go and see whether it is well with your 
brothers and well with the flocks and bring me 
word again.” And Joseph went looking for his 
* brothers in the place where he thought they 
were. 

A stranger found him wandering in the fields, 
looking for his brothers and asked Joseph: “For 
what are you seeking?” Joseph replied: “I am 
seeking for my brethren. I pray you tell me where 
they feed their flocks.” 

“Your brethren have departed from this place 
and have gone to Dothan,” answered the stranger. 
And Joseph went to Dothan seeking for his brothers. 

As he came across the fields, his brothers saw 
him approaching. They said one to another: “Be¬ 
hold the dreamer comes. Let us slay him and cast 
him into some pit and then we will say to our 
father, Some evil beast has devoured him, and then 
we shall see what will become of his dreams.” 

Then they took the young Joseph who was only 
seventeen years of age and began to carry out their 
threats. One of the brothers named Reuben, how¬ 
ever, would not allow them to kill the young Joseph 
but took him from the hands of his angry brothers, 
for he did not want to shed the blood of the lad. 





56 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Reuben said to the others: “Let us cast him into 
this pit alive, then we will be rid of him.” 

So they took Joseph and stripped him of his coat 
of many colors and cast him into the pit. Perhaps 
they thought there was water in the bottom of the 
pit and the lad would drown, but there was no 
water in the pit and Joseph remained alive. 

After a while the brethren sat down to eat, and 
while they were at their meal they saw a company 
of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their cam¬ 
els loaded with spices and other things which they 
were going to carry into Egypt. 

“What profit is it if we kill our brother and con¬ 
ceal his blood? Let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, 
let us not kill him for he is our brother and our 
flesh,” Judah said to his brothers. With this the 
brothers were content. They lifted Joseph out of 
the pit, washed the dirt from his body, and put on 
his clothes, though they kept the coat of many 
colors in their own hands. 

When the Ishmaelites drew near the brothers 
stopped them and offered to sell Joseph for twenty 
pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites were glad of this 
bargain because they could sell Joseph in Egypt for a 
slave, so they bought the lad and passed on their way. 

Then the brothers took Joseph’s coat of many 
colors and dipped it in the blood of a kid which 





Joseph Drawn Up from the Pit 









B \ ■ 




JOSEPH IS SOLD INTO EGYPT 


57 


they killed. When they returned to their homes, 
they went to Jacob and said to him: “We have 
found this coat, do you know whether it is Joseph’s 
coat or not? ” And Jacob looked at the coat and said: 
“It is my son’s coat; an evil beast had devoured 
him, and Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.” 
The brothers said nothing and the old Jacob be¬ 
lieved that Joseph had been killed in the wilderness. 

Jacob was heartbroken at the loss of his son and 
went into mourning for him many days. His sons 
and his daughters tried to comfort him but he would 
not be comforted and cried out in his sorrow: “I 
will go down into the grave mourning for my son,” 
by which he meant that he would mourn for him the 
rest of his life. 

The Ishmaelites traveled many days until at last 
they came to Egypt and there they sold Joseph to 
Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh the king, and also 
a captain of the guard. Joseph became Potiphar’s 
servant and lived in his house. He was such a good 
servant that his master was much pleased with him 
and gave him authority over his other servants. 

Joseph had not only the care of the house but 
also everything in it and Potiphar trusted him with 
all things. The Lord took care of Joseph in the land 
of Egypt and of all the household of Potiphar be¬ 
cause Joseph was a faithful servant. 





58 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH'S DREAM 

The Lord continued to prosper Joseph while he 
was in the house of his master Potiphar. Joseph 
was a goodly person and well-favored in appear¬ 
ance. Upon one occasion Potiphar's wife became 
very angry with him and carried her complaint to 
Potiphar himself. Joseph was not at all to blame, 
but because his wife was angry Potiphar was will¬ 
ing that Joseph should be cast into prison. Joseph 
was stripped of all his power and position and was 
thrown into the king's prison. But he soon found 
favor in the eyes of the keeper of the prison because 
the Lord was always with Joseph. 

Shortly afterwards two of King Pharaoh's serv¬ 
ants offended him. One of these was the baker, 
who attended the king's food, and the other was 
the butler, who attended to the service of the king’s 
table. When King Pharaoh was angry with any of 
his servants he put them in prison. So these two 
servants, the baker and the butler, were thrown 
into the same prison with Joseph. 

Now the butler and the baker each had a dream 
and what they saw in their dreams worried them 
greatly and in the morning when Joseph came to 




JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH’S DREAM 59 


them they looked very sad. Joseph inquired of 
them why they looked so sad. 

“We have dreamed a dream and there is no one 
here to interpret it,” they told him. 

Joseph then told them that if they would tell 
their dreams to him he would tell them the meaning. 

And this is the dream that the chief butler told: 
“In my dream a vine was before me and on the vine 
were three branches and these branches budded and 
had blossoms and later on there were ripe grapes on 
the branches. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand and 
I took the grapes and pressed the juice into Pha¬ 
raoh’s cup and gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. 
I pray you interpret this dream for me.” 

“This is the interpretation of your dream/’ said 
Joseph. “The three branches are three days. Within 
three days shall Pharaoh take you out of this prison 
and restore you unto your place and you shall again 
hand Pharaoh his cup and serve him at his table.” 

Then Joseph told the chief butler his story and 
how that he had been stolen away from the land of 
the Hebrews and how he had served Potiphar 
faithfully and that he was unjustly accused and 
thrown into prison; and he begged the chief butler 
to ask the king to restore him to his liberty. 

The chief baker then told his dream to Joseph. 
Said he: “In my dream I had three white baskets 




60 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


on my head. In one of the baskets was all manner 
of meats for the king and the birds ate the meats 
out of the basket which was on my head. Now 
tell me the interpretation of this dream.” 

Joseph answered the chief baker and said: “The 
three baskets are three days. Within three days 
the king shall deliver you from this prison and shall 
hang you upon a tree and the birds shall eat of 
your flesh. This is the interpretation of your dream.” 

Now it happened that after three days came 
Pharaoh’s birthday and he made a feast unto all 
his servants and he sent for the chief butler and 
the chief baker and delivered them out of prison. 
Then he made the chief butler serve him as he once 
did but he hanged the chief baker on a tree just as 
Joseph had said he would. The chief butler, how¬ 
ever, forgot Joseph and did not mention his name 
to King Pharaoh. 

Two years passed and still Joseph stayed in 
prison. Then Pharaoh dreamed a dream, and be¬ 
hold, he sat by a river. There came up out of the 
river seven cows that were well-fed and fat, and 
they wandered in a meadow. Also there came up 
seven other cows that were poorly-fed and lean. 
As the fat cows were feeding in the meadow the 
lean cows immediately fell upon them and de¬ 
voured them. Then Pharaoh awoke. 




JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH’S DREAM 61 


Pharaoh slept and dreamed a second dream, and 
in this dream he saw seven ears of corn that came 
out upon one stalk and they were large and good. 
Then he saw seven thin ears that sprang up on 
another stalk, that were blasted by the east wind. 
.The seven thin ears immediately devoured the 
seven good and full ears. And again Pharaoh awoke 
and his spirit was much troubled by the dreams 
he had dreamed. 

He sent for his magicians smd his wise men and 
told them his dreams but there was no one in all 
the land that could tell King Pharaoh what these 
two strange dreams meant. He even spoke to the 
chief butler about it. Then the chief butler remem¬ 
bered the dream that Joseph had interpreted to 
him and to the chief baker and how each interpre¬ 
tation had come true as Joseph had told them. 
Thereupon the butler said to the king: 

“When the baker and I were in prison we both 
dreamed a dream in one night and there was in the 
prison a young man, a Hebrew, who was servant 
to Potiphar the captain of the guard, and we told 
our dream to him and he interpreted our dream to 
us. He told me that I was to be restored to my 
office in three days and he told the chief baker that 
he was to be hanged, and so it was, as Joseph had 
interpreted our dreams.” 





62 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Then King Pharaoh sent at once and called Joseph 
out of prison and they brought him out of the dun¬ 
geon into which he had been cast. Then he was 
shaved and bathed and his clothes were changed 
and he came before King Pharaoh. Pharaoh said 
to him: “Joseph, I have dreamed a dream and 
there is no one here that can interpret it, and I 
have heard it said that you can understand a dream 
and can tell me what it means. ” 

Then Pharaoh told to Joseph the two strange 
dreams he had, one about the seven lean cows 
devouring the seven fat cows, and the other about 
the seven thin ears of corn devouring the seven 
full ears. And Joseph listened to King Pharaoh 
while he told him of these dreams. 

“Oh, king, your dream is but one dream,” Joseph 
said to Pharaoh. “The seven fat cows and the 
seven full ears of corn are seven years of plenty 
in the land of Egypt; the seven lean cows and the 
seven thin ears of corn are also seven years, and 
they shall be years of famine in all the land of 
Egypt, and all the years of plenty shall be forgotten 
and the famine shall consume the land. ” 

Joseph then advised Pharaoh to select a discreet 
and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt 
and appoint officers who should take a part of the 
crops of the seven years of plenty and gather all 




JOSEPH'S BRETHREN COME TO BUY CORN 63 


the food of these good years into barns and lay up 
corn in the cities to provide against the seven years 
of famine which should come, so that the people 
should not perish when there should be no crops. 

This interpretation of his dreams seemed good 
to Pharaoh and he said to his servants: “Where 
can we find a man who is discreet and wise and 
who shall be over my house?” 

The servants turned to Joseph and said that 
inasmuch as his God had showed him all this, and 
because he was a wise and discreet man, they would 
appoint him to be over the king’s house and he 
should rule the land and no one in Egypt should 
be greater than Joseph save the king himself. 

The advice of his servants was pleasing to Pha¬ 
raoh. The king took the ring off his hand and put 
it upon Joseph’s hand and had him clad in fine 
linen and put a gold chain about his neck. He 
made him ride in a second chariot which he had, 
and everybody ran before Joseph and bowed the 
knee, and Joseph was made ruler over all the land 
of Egypt, and he was second to none, except the king 
himself. 

JOSEPH’S BRETHREN COME TO BUY CORN 

Joseph was now thirty years old ajid there was 
no man in all Egypt greater than he except King 




64 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Pharaoh. He went through all the land of Egypt 
in the seven years of plenty that the earth brought 
forth crops in great abundance, and gathered all 
the surplus food and laid it up in the cities. There 
was then much food stored in Egypt because Joseph 
knew that the seven years of famine were coming. 

When the seven years of plenty had passed the 
famine began for no crops grew at all in all the 
lands. Only in the land of Egypt, where the wisdom 
of Joseph had stored food, was there plenty. Joseph 
opened his store-houses and sold corn to the people 
and even from far countries men came into Egypt 
to buy corn from Joseph. 

Up in the land of Canaan Jacob and all of his 
family began to suffer for lack of corn. Jacob said 
to his sons: “I have heard that there is corn in 
Egypt. Go down there and buy for us that we 
may live and not die.” And Jacob sent ten of his 
sons, who were brothers of Joseph, into Egypt to 
buy corn. But Jacob kept Benjamin, his youngest 
son, with him because he did not want any harm to 
befall him. 

The ten sons of Jacob came into Egypt to buy 
corn, though they did not know that Joseph, the 
governor over all the land, was their brother. When 
they came to Joseph they bowed their faces to the 
earth, and Joseph knew his brothers but they did 




JOSEPH’S BRETHREN COME TO BUY CORN 65 


not know him. Joseph spoke roughly to his brothers 
and said to them: “Where do you come from?” 
and they replied: “We came from the land of 
Canaan to buy food. ” 

Then Joseph again spoke roughly to his brothers, 
and said: “You are spies and have come to see the 
nakedness of the land.” 

“No, my lord, we are come to buy food,” replied 
the men. We are all sons of one man, and we are 
true men and are not spies. There are twelve of us 
and our father lives in the land of Canaan. With 
him is the youngest, and there is one who is dead.” 

“I shall not let you go until you prove to me the 
truth of your story,” Joseph said to his brothers. 
“Send one of your number back and let him bring 
your youngest brother, and the others shall be 
kept in prison, that the truth of your words may 
be proved, for I believe you are spies.” Then he 
put them all together in prison for three days. 

At the end of three days Joseph changed his 
mind about his brothers and released them all 
from prison and agreed to let them go, except one 
of them who should remain bound in prison while 
the rest carried corn back to the land of Canaan. 

Then the brothers began to talk in their own 
tongue, not knowing that Joseph could understand 
them. Though Joseph had learned to speak the 




66 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


language of Egypt he had not forgotten the lan¬ 
guage of the land of his birth. As his brothers 
spoke together they talked of the harm that they 
had done their brother Joseph when he was a child 
and began to accuse one another of their wicked¬ 
ness : 

“This is the consequence of what we did to our 
brother Joseph when he was but a child/’ said they. 

Joseph understood what they were saying, though 
his brethren did not know that he understood them. 
Then Joseph turned himself from them and wept 
because his heart yearned towards his brothers, 
even though he had spoken roughly to them. He 
then took Simeon, one of the brothers, and bound 
him, to keep him as a pledge that the others would 
return with their younger brother Benjamin. 

Joseph then commanded his servants to fill his 
brothers’ sacks with corn and to put every man’s 
money back into his sack, and to give them plenty 
of provisions for their journey. They loaded their 
asses with the corn and started on their homeward 
way. 

As soon as they were on their way one of them 
opened his sack to give his animal food, and then 
he saw the money in the mouth of his sack. He 
told the others of what he had found and they were 
surprised and alarmed. 




JOSEPH’S BRETHREN COME TO BUY CORN 67 

After a while they came back to Jacob, their 
father, into the land of Canaan, and told him all 
that had happened to them, saying that the gover¬ 
nor of Egypt had spoken roughly to them and had 
accused them of being spies and had bound Simeon, 
one of their number, and had kept him as a pledge 
that they should bring back their younger brother 
Benjamin with them, to prove that they were not 
spies. Then the brothers untied their sacks, and 
behold, every man's money was in his sack, and 
when they saw this they were all afraid. 

Jacob then said to his sons: “I am indeed bereft 
of my children. Joseph is not and Simeon is not 
and you will take Benjamin away. All these things 
are against me." 

Reuben spoke up and said to his father: “You 
may slay my own two sons if I bring not Benjamin 
again into your hands. Give him to me and I will 
take him to Egypt, and I will bring him back safely." 
But Jacob was not willing that Benjamin should go. 

The famine was sore in the land of Canaan and 
before long they had eaten up all the corn which 
they had brought out of the land of Egypt, and 
Jacob said to his sons: “Go again into Egypt and 
buy us a little food." 

“There is no use to go into Egypt to buy 
unless we take Benjamin with us. The man said 




68 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


that we should not see his face nor buy any food 
until we bring our younger brother/’ said Judah, 
one of the sons. 

After a while Jacob agreed that Benjamin should 
go, for they were in great need of corn and the 
brothers dared not go back into Egypt without 
taking young Benjamin with them. Jacob, there¬ 
fore, allowed them to depart but told them to take 
double money and some presents and fine honey 
and spices and other things, that they might please 
the man in Egypt who had spoken so roughly to 
them and strangely enough had returned them the 
money that they had carried to him the first time 
that they went into Egypt. Then the brothers 
started on their second journey to Egypt, taking 
double money and the young Benjamin. 


JACOB MOVES INTO EGYPT 

The brothers of Joseph came again into the land 
of Egypt to buy corn. This time they brought the 
young Benjamin with them, even as Joseph had 
requested them. 

When they came to Joseph’s house they gave 
him the presents which their father had sent, and 
showed him the double money, and then bowed 
themselves to the earth. 





__ JACOB MOVES INTO EGYPT 69 

Joseph looked upon them kindly and asked of 
their welfare, and said: “Is your father well, the 
old man of whom you spoke, and is he yet alive?” 
The brothers answered: “Our father is yet alive 
and is in good health.” And again they bowed 
their heads. 

When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin he asked 
of his brothers: “Is this your younger brother of 
whom you spoke unto me?” and they told him that 
it was. Then Joseph, who longed to take his brother 
in his arms and kiss him according to the custom of 
that country, dared not do so, but left his brothers 
and went into his own room and there he wept. 
When he came out again he ordered food set before 
his brothers, all they could eat, and all the wine 
they could drink, and he made his servants wait 
upon them. 

Then he commanded his steward to fill every 
man’s sack with corn, as much as he could carry, 
and to put every man’s money into the mouth of 
his sack. He also told them to put his own silver 
cup into the mouth of the sack of the youngest 
brother and also his money for the corn. In the 
morning he sent them away loaded with food. 

After they had gotten a little way out of the 
city Joseph turned to his steward and said: “Follow 
after the men and when you overtake them ask 





70 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


them why they have returned evil for good.” The 
steward followed the men and when he reached 
them and asked them the question as Joseph had 
commanded, they were much astonished and wanted 
to know what evil they had done to Joseph. 

The steward then opened each man’s sack and 
discovered the money in the mouth of the sacks, 
and when he reached Benjamin’s sack he not only 
found the money but also Joseph’s cup, and he accused 
the men of taking the cup from the house of Joseph. 

They fell before him on the ground and told him 
that they did not know who had put the money 
back into their sacks nor who had put the cup into 
the sack of Benjamin, their youngest brother. Nev¬ 
ertheless the steward made them all come back with 
him to the house of Joseph. 

Then Judah stood up before Joseph and told 
him the story of their father’s living in Canaan 
and how that they were once twelve brothers but 
that in an evil day one of them had been sold into 
bondage and that his father had grieved for this 
son; and how Benjamin was the youngest one and 
his father loved him; and how that the famine was 
sore in the land of Canaan, and that the old father 
was even now waiting for his sons to come back 
to him and would surely die if Benjamin was not 
allowed to return to him. 




JACOB MOVES INTO EGYPT 


71 


Joseph could not restrain himself any longer from 
making himself known unto his brethren. He had 
been trying all this time to learn whether they were 
still true men as he had hoped they were. There¬ 
fore, he made all his servants leave the place where 
. they were, and after they were gone there was no 
one left except Joseph and his eleven brethren. 

Then Joseph made himself known unto his breth¬ 
ren. He said to them: “I am Joseph, the brother 
whom you did sell into Egypt. I was brought here 
and made a servant in the house of the captain of 
the guard. Then for no fault of mine was I thrown 
into prison and there I stayed for many years. But 
the Lord blessed me and gave me power to interpret 
the dreams of King Pharaoh himself. I knew by his 
dreams that there would be seven years of plenty 
and seven years of famine. Therefore, I stored up 
corn that I might feed this people and even my 
father’s people in the land of Canaan. Pharaoh has 
made me ruler over this land and there is none 
greater than I save Pharaoh himself.” After this 
he kissed all his brethren and they wept and rejoiced 
because their brother Joseph had not been killed 
and that all twelve of Jacob’s sons were alive. 

Joseph then asked his brethren about his father 
and all the people of Canaan and they told him all 
that had happened for many years. Joseph then told 




72 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


them to hasten back to his father Jacob and to say 
unto him: “Your son Joseph is yet alive and he is 
lord of all Egypt. Tell him to come down, and tarry 
not, and all his people shall remain in the land of 
Egypt, that they shall be near Joseph/’ 

He loaded his brothers with presents and clothes 
and gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver 
and provided them with wagons and camels and 
asses, that they might bring old Jacob and all of 
his family back into the land of Egypt. Then he 
sent his brothers on their way. 

When they came to Jacob their father they told 
him: “Joseph is yet alive and is governor of all 
the land of Egypt.” But Jacob could hardly be¬ 
lieve that it was true and his spirit failed him, but 
after a while he said to his sons: “Joseph my son is 
yet alive. I will go and see him before I die. ” 

Then Jacob and his family and all his servants 
journeyed into Egypt with all their flocks and herds 
and all their possessions. It was a long journey 
and lasted many days but at last they arrived and 
Joseph made ready his chariot and went out to 
meet his father. When he saw him he fell on his 
neck and cried, and Jacob said unto Joseph: “Now 
let me die since I have seen your face, because 
you are yet alive.” 

After Joseph had met his father he told Pharaoh 




THE EARLY LIFE OF MOSES 


73 


what he had done and Pharaoh was well pleased 
that Joseph had brought his father and all his 
family into Egypt. Then Pharaoh asked the broth¬ 
ers of Joseph: “What is your occupation?” and they 
said to Pharaoh: “We are shepherds, we and our 
fathers before us.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: 
“The land of Egypt is before them. Let your breth¬ 
ren select where they shall remain. Bring Jacob 
before me that he may bless me, and I will take 
care of him in the land of Egypt.” 

And thus it was that Jacob and all his sons came 
to remain in the land of Goshen, and Joseph cared 
for his father and his brethren and all their house¬ 
hold. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seven¬ 
teen years, until he was one hundred and forty- 
seven years old, and when he died they took his 
body back to the cave of Machpelah in the land 
of Canaan and buried it in the grave of his 
ancestors. 

THE EARLY LIFE OF MOSES 

The children of Israel were living in the land 
of Egypt. They increased rapidly in numbers until 
after many years, the land was filled with them. 
Joseph died when he was one hundred and ten 
years old and was embalmed and put in a coffin. 




74 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


All of his brethren had died but their children con¬ 
tinued to increase in numbers. 

After a while there was a new king or Pharaoh 
over Egypt who forgot the promises made to Joseph 
and who looked with fear upon the numbers of the 
children of Israel. He said unto his people: “The 
children of Israel are more mighty than we; it might 
be if we should go to war they would join our ene¬ 
mies and fight against us. ” And Pharaoh turned 
his heart against the children of Israel and made 
up his mind to deal strictly with them. 

He set taskmasters over them who made them 
bear heavy burdens. The fives of the children of 
Israel were made hard with bondage. They were 
compelled to work in the fields and to make brick 
for the building of houses. But the worst thing of 
all that the king did was to issue a terrible order 
that every son that was born of the women of 
Israel should be cast into the river and only the 
daughters should be saved alive. 

One of the women of the children of Israel had 
a beautiful baby boy, whom she hid for three months 
from those who sought the child’s fife. Fearing that 
she could no longer hide him in her own house, she 
made an ark of bulrushes like a little boat or cradle 
and she daubed it with slime and put the child in 
it and laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. Then 




THE EARLY LIFE OF MOSES 


75 


the child's sister was made to stand a little way off 
so that she could watch the ark and see that no harm 
came to the little boy. 

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to the river 
to bathe and her maidens were walking along by 
her side. Looking into the river she saw the ark 
among the flags and sent one of her maids to bring 
it to her. 

When she opened it she saw the child, and the 
boy held up its hands to her and cried as little 
children will. “This is one of the Hebrew’s child¬ 
ren,” said the daughter of Pharaoh. 

The sister of the little boy came to Pharaoh’s 
daughter and said: “Let me go and call a nurse of 
the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child 
for you.” And Pharaoh’s daughter told her to go. 

The girl went and called her mother and brought 
her to the daughter of Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s daugh¬ 
ter did not know that the woman was the mother 
of the child and she said to her: “Take this child 
and nurse it for me and I will pay you wages.” 
And the woman took the child and nursed it. 

After a while the child grew up to be large and 
strong and Pharaoh’s daughter took him into her 
house and treated him like her son, and named 
him Moses. The boy lived in the court of Egypt 
surrounded by a great deal of wealth. He became 





76 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


learned in all the schools of Egypt, though he never 
forgot that he was a Hebrew and never ceased to 
sorrow for the hardships of his people. 

When Moses was grown, he went out one day 
and looked at the burdens laid upon his people. 
He saw an Egyptian smite a Hebrew. He looked 
around and saw that no one was watching and 
then he slew the Egyptian and hid his body in the 
sand. The next day he went out and saw two He¬ 
brews fighting and asked them what they were 
fighting about. 

One of the Hebrews said to Moses: “Who made 
you a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as 
you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” When Moses 
heard this he was afraid because he did not want 
it to be known that he killed an Egyptian. 

Pharaoh heard what Moses had done and sought 
to slay him. But Moses fled into the land of Midian 
and sat down by a well. As he sat there some women 
came to draw water for their sheep. The other 
shepherds, however, came and tried to drive the 
women away, but Moses stood up and drove the 
shepherds away and watered the women’s sheep. 
The women who were all daughters of the same 
man took Moses with them to their home. He 
married one of them and continued to dwell in the 
land of Midian. 




THE EARLY LIFE OF MOSES 


77 


The father-in-law of Moses was named Jethro, 
and Moses kept the flock of his father-in-law. One 
day he led the flock near to a mountain called 
Horeb. Suddenly he saw before him a bush that 
burned with fire but was not consumed. “I will 
see why the bush is not burned,” said Moses, and he 
came near to the bush. 

The voice of God spoke to him out of the bush 
and said: “Draw not near, but put off your shoes 
from your feet for the place where you stand is 
holy ground. ” Then Moses hid his face for he was 
afraid to look upon God. 

God then told Moses that He had heard the cry 
of the children of Israel and had seen the oppression 
put upon them by the Egyptians. He told Moses 
that He was going to send him to Pharaoh and that 
he should tell Pharaoh that he should allow the 
children of Israel to go out of the land of Egypt 
into the land of their fathers. Moses told the Lord 
that they would not believe him nor would they 
listen to his voice; they would say: “The Lord has 
not appeared unto you,” and Pharaoh would not 
let the people of Israel go. 

The Lord said unto Moses: “What is that you 
have in your hand?” Moses answered: “It is a 
rod. ” 

“Cast it on the ground,” said the Lord. And he 




78 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


cast it on the ground and it turned into a serpent 
and Moses fled before it. 

“Put out your hand and take the serpent by the 
tail,” again said the Lord. Moses put out his hand 
and took the serpent by the tail and it became a 
rod again in his hands. 

“Put your hand into your bosom,” the Lord told 
Moses. And he put his hand into his bosom and 
when he took it out it was white as snow and covered 
with leprosy. 

“Put your hand into your bosom,” said the Lord. 
And he put his hand into his bosom and when he 
took it out it was turned again and was like his 
other flesh. 

Then the Lord told Moses that if Pharaoh did 
not believe him and did not do as he said, that he 
should take the water of the river and pour it upon 
the dry land and it would become blood upon the 
land. 

Moses went to Jethro his father-in-law and said 
to him: “Let me go and return unto my breth¬ 
ren in Egypt and see if they are alive. ” Jethro told 
him to go in peace, and Moses began his journey 
toward the land of Egypt. 

On his way he met his brother Aaron, and Aaron 
kissed him because he had not seen his brother for 
a long time. 




EGYPTIANS ARE SMITTEN WITH PLAGUES 79 


Moses told Aaron of the words that the Lord 
had spoken unto him and of all the signs that had 
been given to him. Then Moses and Aaron gath¬ 
ered together all the elders of the people of Israel 
and told them what the Lord had said. When the 
people heard these things they bowed their heads 
and worshiped. 

THE EGYPTIANS ARE SMITTEN WITH 

PLAGUES 

Aaron went to Pharaoh and said: “The Lord 
God of Israel has sent us to you saying: Met my 
people go that they may hold a feast in the wilder¬ 
ness. This made Pharaoh angry and he would 
not let the people go. On the other hand, he com¬ 
manded the taskmasters of the people to make the 
burdens of the children of Israel heavier. 

“Give the people no more straw to make brick 
as heretofore, but let them go and gather straw for 
themselves, but each one must make as many bricks 
as before. They are idle and need more work, 
because they have asked time to go into the wilder¬ 
ness to sacrifice to their God,” said the cruel king 
to the taskmasters over the people of Israel. 

And the taskmasters did as Pharaoh commanded 
and the people of Israel were beaten and their bur- 




80 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


dens became heavier day by day. Then Moses and 
Aaron went again to Pharaoh and told him that the 
Lord had sent them to give him a sign, and Aaron 
cast down his rod before Pharaoh and it became a 
serpent. 

Pharaoh called for his magicians and the magi¬ 
cians cast down their rods and they also became 
serpents. But Aaron’s rod that had become a ser¬ 
pent swallowed up all the rods of the magicians 
that had become serpents. Pharaoh hardened his 
heart and did not believe in the signs and would 
not let the people go. 

Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh in the 
morning as he sat by the side of the river and Moses 
carried in his hand the rod which had become a 
serpent. Moses said unto Aaron: “Take thy rod 
and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt 
upon their streams, rivers and ponds that they all 
may become blood, and that there may be blood in 
all the vessels of wood and stone in the land of 
Egypt. ” 

Aaron stretched out his hand and lifted up the 
rod and smote the waters that were in the river in 
the very sight of Pharaoh and his servants and lo, 
all the waters of Egypt were turned into blood. 

\ 

The fish that were in the rivers died and the Egyp¬ 
tians could not drink the waters, because there was 




EGYPTIANS ARE SMITTEN WITH PLAGUES 81 


nothing but blood throughout the land of Egypt. 

Now the magicians of Egypt did the same thing 
in their enchantments and Pharaoh’s heart was 
still hardened and he would not let the people go. 
And the people of Egypt had to dig wells to get 
water to drink. 

Moses then went to Pharaoh and said to him 
again: “Let my people go that they may serve God, 
and if you refuse to let them go he will smite all the 
land with frogs.” 

Pharaoh would not obey the commands of the 
Lord and behold, the rivers brought forth frogs 
abundantly. The frogs crawled into the streets and 
into the houses and even into the beds of the people 
and into the kitchens and ovens and there was a 
great plague of frogs until they covered the land of 
Egypt. The magicians did likewise with their en¬ 
chantments and also brought frogs upon the land 
of Egypt. 

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and begged 
them to take away the frogs and he would let the 
people go. The next day the frogs were gone, but 
Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to do as he 
had promised. Therefore, the Lord told Moses to 
send another plague upon the land of Egypt. 

This time it was a plague of lice, for Aaron 
stretched out his hand with his rod and smote the 





82 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


dust of the earth and it became full of lice that 
crawled on man and beast. The magicians of Phar¬ 
aoh tried to do likewise but this time they could not. 
Still the heart of Pharaoh would not relent. There¬ 
fore, the Lord decided to send another plague upon 
the land of Egypt. 

This time it was a plague of flies. Great swarms 
of flies infested the houses of the Egyptians and all 
the ground where they were, but Pharoah would 
not let the people of Israel go into the wilderness to 
worship, even though he had promised Moses to do 
so if he took away the swarm of flies. 

Then other plagues followed. All the cattle of 
Egypt died of a grievous malady but none of the 
cattle of the people of Israel died. Then the Lord 
told Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of ashes 
and sprinkle them towards the heavens in the sight 
of Pharaoh, and the ashes turned into a small dust 
that smote the people of Egypt with boils. Then 
followed terrible hail and fire in the land of Egypt 
so that many men and cattle in the fields were 
killed and all the crops were destroyed and the 
trees broken down. Only in the land of Goshen 
where the children of Israel lived was there no hail. 

Still Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not 
believe that all these things were sent upon him 
by the Lord for refusing to let the people of Israel 




EGYPTIANS ARE SMITTEN WITH PLAGUES 83 


go into the wilderness to worship. Therefore, the 
Lord sent a great plague of locusts that covered the 
face of the earth. The locusts ate what was left 
from the hail, and filled the houses of Egypt. They 
covered the face of the whole earth so that the land 
was darkened, and there remained no green thing 
in all the fields throughout the land of Egypt. 
Then there followed a plague of darkness over the 
land of Egypt. For three days not one person could 
see another nor did anyone rise from his place for 
three days. After each one of these plagues Phar¬ 
aoh would agree to let the people go, but when Moses 
and Aaron would remove the plague at the entreaty 
of Pharaoh then he would break his promise and 
would not let the people go. 

At last the Lord said: “I will bring one more 
plague on Pharaoh and upon Egypt then he will 
let my people go.” The Lord told Moses, “I will 
go into the land of Egypt and all the first-born in 
the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of 
the servants and those that work in the mills and 
all the first-born of the beasts and there shall be a 
great cry in the land of Egypt.” 

The Lord promised Moses, however, that He * 
would protect the children of Israel and would 
save all their first-born. Therefore, He told Aaron 
and Moses to tell the people of Israel that 




84 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the head of each house should take a lamb that 
should be without blemish and kill it in the evening. 
Then they were to take a bunch of hyssop and dip 
it in the blood of the lamb and strike each side of 
the door of the house and even over the door, so 
that the houses of the Israelites might be marked 
with the blood of the lamb and thus be told from 
the houses of the Egyptians. 

The flesh of the lamb was to be roasted with fire 
and eaten with unleavened bread and all of it was 
to be eaten or else consumed with fire. As they 
ate they were to stand with their clothes girded for 
a journey, with their shoes on their feet and their 
staves in their hands and they should eat the lamb 
in haste. 

They were to follow these orders because at night 
the Lord intended to send His angel through the 
land of Egypt and smite all the first-born both of 
man and beast, but wherever the angel saw the 
blood on the door posts he was to pass over that 
house and not smite the first-born. This was called 
the Passover and the lamb that the people ate was 
known as the Feast of the Passover. 

The Israelites did exactly as Moses and Aaron 
commanded them to do. The lamb was slain, the 
door posts were marked with blood, the Israelites 
prepared for their journey and the flesh of the lamb 





EGYPTIANS ARE DROWNED IN THE RED SEA 85 


was roasted and eaten. At midnight the angel of 
the Lord passed over Egypt and smote all the 
first-born, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat 
on the throne to the first-born of the captive that 
was in the dungeon and the first-born of all cattle. 

The next morning when Pharaoh rose and all the 
people of Egypt saw what the angel of the Lord 
had done, there was a great cry and weeping and 
wailing in all the land for there was no single house 
where there was not one dead. Only in the houses 
of the Israelites there was no mourning for the 
angel had passed over those houses and the first 
born was spared. 

THE EGYPTIANS ARE DROWNED IN THE 

RED SEA 

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and 
said to them: “Get the Israelites out from my 
people. Go and serve your Lord as you please. 
Take your flocks and your herds and begone, for 
the Lord hath smitten me and my people and we 
shall have no peace until you are out of this land. ” 

The Egyptians urged the Israelites to go. They 
hastened to send them out of the land and gave 
them jewels, and silver, and gold, and plenty of 
clothes and food. They did all they could to hasten 




86 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, for fear 
the Lord would send another plague upon the 
people. 

It must have been a great procession, for there 
were six hundred thousand of the Israelites on foot 
that were grown besides the children, and with them 
went great flocks and herds of cattle and great 
wagons carrying food. They had been in the land of 
Egypt for four hundred and thirty years and had 
grown to be great multitudes of people. 

They left all their houses and their lands and 
turned their faces to the great desert, not knowing 
how long it would take them to reach the land of 
Canaan and how they were to be cared for on the 
way. They trusted in Moses and Aaron and in the 
word of the Lord. Moses took with him the bones 
of Joseph who had been buried in Egypt for four 
hundred years, in order that he might be buried 
again in the land from which Joseph came. 

The great procession moved on into the wilder¬ 
ness having faith in God that he would protect 
them from all evil. In order to lead them in the 
right direction, the Lord sent a pillar of cloud 
that led them by day and a pillar of fire that gave 
them light by night. 

When Pharaoh heard that the people of Israel 
had left the land of Egypt, and when he knew such 




EGYPTIANS ARE DROWNED IN THE RED SEA 87 


a great multitude of workers had departed he 
changed his mind again as he had so often done and 
said to those around him: “Why have we done this 
and let Israel go from serving us?” Then he took 
his chariot and six hundred other chariots and 
.many soldiers and pursued the children of Israel 
and overtook them as they were camped in the 
wilderness. 

When Pharaoh came near the children of Israel, 
they lifted up their eyes and saw the Egyptians com¬ 
ing after them. They were afraid and cried out unto 
the Lord. They said to Moses: “Have you taken 
us to die in the wilderness? Why have you brought 
us out of Egypt and dealt with us in this way? 
It is better that we should serve Egypt than die 
in the wilderness.” 

But Moses stood up before the hosts of the 
people and said to them: “Fear not, but stand 
still for the Lord will save you from the Egyptians 
and after today you shall see them no more for¬ 
ever. Hold your peace and the Lord will fight for 

you.” 

The children were encamped by the Red Sea. 
In front of them were deep sullen waters; behind 
them was a pursuing host of horsemen and char¬ 
iots led by a faithless king bent upon their destruc¬ 
tion. They were unarmed and helpless and not 




88_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

accustomed to war and battle. They saw no hope 
but only destruction for themselves, their wives, 
and their children. Therefore, it was not strange 
that they cried out with great terror as they saw 
the hosts of Egypt coming upon them. 

But the Lord had promised to take care of them 
and to provide a way for their escape and all they 
had to do was to trust in him and in his promise. 

The Lord said unto Moses: “Tell the children 
of Israel to go forward. Then lift up thy rod and 
stretch out thy hand over the sea and divide it 
that the children of Israel shall go on dry ground 
into the midst of the sea . 57 Then the angel of God 
and the pillar of cloud which had gone before the 
camp of Israel moved behind them and between 
them and their enemies. Thus it was that the 
Egyptians were in darkness and could not see the 
Israelites but the pillar gave light on the side of 
the people of Israel. 

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and 
a strong east wind blew all night and made the sea 
dry land, and the waters were divided so that there 
was an open way for the children of Israel to march 
through the sea. Then the children of Israel went 
into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the 
waters were piled up like a wall on their right hand 
and on their left hand. 




EGYPTIANS ARE DROWNED IN THE RED SEA 89 


Pharaoh came on pursuing the Israelites right 
into the midst of the sea with all his horses, char¬ 
iots and horsemen. The children of Israel hastened 
through the sea and reached the other side but the 
pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud troubled the 
hosts of Egypt. Their chariot wheels were broken 
and their horses stumbled and fell and the horse¬ 
men were confused in the darkness. The men of 
Egypt cried out with fear. “Let us flee from the 
face of Israel for the Lord is fighting for them 
against the Egyptians.” 

When all the Israelites had reached the other 
side of the sea and the Egyptians were still con¬ 
fused with the wall of water on either side, the 
Lord said to Moses: “Stretch out your hand over 
the sea that the waters may go together again upon 
the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their 
horsemen.” Moses stretched his hand over the sea 
and the waters came together and covered the 
chariots and the horsemen and all the hosts of 
Pharaoh and not one of them escaped. 

In this way the Lord saved Israel out of the 
hands of the Egyptians, and that same day the 
Israelites saw many Egyptians dead upon the 
seashore. Then the people believed the Lord and 
his servant Moses and knew they were safe from 
their enemies. 




90 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


THE LORD PROVIDES FOR THE CHILDREN 

OF ISRAEL 

The Israelites took up their journey again in the 
wilderness. Day after day they marched forward, 
led by Moses and Aaron until at last all their food 
had been eaten and even their cattle had been de¬ 
voured. The men and women were very tired and 
hungry and the children began to cry out in 
distress. 

Not knowing where they were going and how 
they would be fed, they began to complain and 
murmur against Moses and Aaron in the wilder¬ 
ness. They said: “It was better for us to die in the 
land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots and 
when we had plenty of bread to eat. Why has 
Moses brought us into this wilderness to kill us 
with hunger?” And the air was full of their cries 
and complaints and Moses did not know what to do. 

The Lord spoke again unto Moses and said: “I 
have not forgotten the people of Israel in the wilder¬ 
ness, but I know they need food to eat, therefore, I 
will rain bread from heaven and the people shall go 
out and gather it every morning, one day’s supply 
at a time and on the sixth day they shall gather 




LORD PROVIDES FOR CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 91 


two days’ supply that they may have food for the 
Sabbath. ” 

The Lord told Moses that in the evenings he would 
send flesh for the people of Israel to eat and in the 
mornings he would send bread for them to eat. 
' And so it happened that every evening quails came 
up and covered the camp and the people gathered 
them and had meat to eat. In the morning there 
lay upon the ground a small round thing which the 
people called manna and which was bread for them 
to eat. When the people had gathered enough quail 
for one day then all the quails were gone and when 
the people had gathered enough manna for one day 
then all the manna w T as gone. The Lord gave only 

ji 

one day’s supply at a time except on the sixth day 
when he gave enough also for the Sabbath. 

Those who were greedy and gathered too much 
found they had just enough, and those who had 
gathered less found they had no lack, every man 
had enough for his eating. In this way the Lord 
fed the children of Israel as long as they wandered 
in the wilderness. 

But a wilderness is also a very dreary place and 
there is not much water in such a land. At one place 
there was no water for the people to drink and 
thousands of them were thirsty and began again to 
murmur against Moses and Aaron saying: “We will 




92 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


die of thirst in this land. Why have you brought us 
out of the land of Egypt to kill us and our children 
and our cattle with thirst? There are in Egypt 
many wells and springs of water and here in this 
desert our tongues are parched and our children 
cry unto us for drink. ” And they were almost ready 
to stone Moses. 

Moses went again unto the Lord and asked him 
what he was to do. The Lord said unto Moses: 
“Take your rod in your hand and stand upon the 
rock in Horeb and smite the rock and water shall 
come out of it that the people may drink. ” And 
Moses did as the Lord told him and smote the 
rock with his rod in the presence of the people of 
Israel. A great stream of pure clear water came out 
of the rocks for the thirsty people, and they knelt 
down and drank and relieved their thirst. Then 
again they knew that the Lord would care for them 
in their journey through the wilderness. 

There were also enemies in the land of the wil¬ 
derness who sought to hinder the people of Israel as 
they went on their journey. There were savage 
tribes who fought with them and while the people 
of Israel were a peaceful people and were not well 
provided with instruments of war yet the Lord was 
on their side and did not allow their enemies to 
prevail against them. 





LORD PROVIDES FOR CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 93 


Upon one occasion the Amalekites attacked the 
children of Israel and fought with them. The Amal¬ 
ekites were very fierce and the people of Israel 
were afraid of them. Moses said unto Joshua, who 
was one of his captains: “Choose the best men that 
you have and make them go out and fight with the 
Amalekites, and I will go and stand upon the top of 
the hill with the rod of God in my hand. ” 

Joshua did as Moses told him, gathered his brav¬ 
est men and went out to fight with the Amalekites 
upon the plains of the wilderness, while Moses and 
Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. The 
men of Israel and the Amalekites began a terrible 
fight, for Joshua wished to drive away the Amale¬ 
kites who had come to destroy the children of Israel. 

Moses stood on the hill and saw the men of Israel 
engage in battle with their enemies. Then Moses 
held up his hand and so long as his hand was held 
up the hosts of Israel prevailed. When Moses be¬ 
came too tired to hold up his hand and let it down 
the Amalekites prevailed. 

Moses’ hands were heavy and he was old and 
tired and so they took a stone and put it under him 
and he sat down, then Aaron held up one of his 
hands and Hur held up the other hand and so they 
were steady until the sun went down. 

Joshua overthrew the Amalekites and slew many 




94 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


of them with the sword and they came no more to 
disturb the hosts of Israel. Moses came down from 
the mount and built an altar in the name of the 
Lord who had given him victory. 

GOD TELLS MOSES HOW TO BUILD THE 

TABERNACLE 

The people of Israel camped before a mountain 
called Sinai. It was now time for them to have laws 
so that they could know what was the will of God 
toward them. Therefore, the Lord told Moses to 
come up to Mount Sinai and he would give him the 
laws for the guidance of the people. 

The Lord descended upon Mount Sinai and it 
burned with fire, and the mountain shook and great 
quantities of smoke ascended to the skies. The Lord 
then called from the top of Sinai for Moses to come 
up to the top, and Moses went up and all the people 
in the plain below prepared themselves to receive 
the word of the Lord. 

On the top of the mount the Lord told Moses to 
say to the people of Israel that He had delivered 
them out of the hands of the Egyptians and that 
He would take care of them if they would obey His 
commandments. He told Moses to make the people 
wash their clothes and make themselves clean and 




GOD TELLS MOSES HOW TO BUILD TABERNACLE 95 


not commit any sin for on the third day the Lord 
was to come again on Mount Sinai. Moses went 
down the mountain and told the people all the 
things the Lord had spoken to him. 

After Moses had spoken to the people the Lord 
told him to come up again into the mountain, and 
He would give him the Ten Commandments written 
upon tablets of stone. Moses took Joshua with him 
and went up into the mountain, and a cloud came 
and covered the mountain for six days. The Lord 
called to Moses out of the cloud, and Moses went 
into the cloud and stayed forty days and forty 
nights. On the plain below the people of Israel saw 
the cloud and the bright burning light and knew 
that the glory of the Lord was upon the mountain. 

The Lord then spoke to Moses and gave him the 
Ten Commandments. He also told him that the 
children of Israel should build a tabernacle, which 
was to be a place of worship. He told Moses how 
this tabernacle was to be built and all the things 
which were to go in. It was to be a very beautiful 
place of worship, and have many objects of gold 
and silver and brass in it. There were to be curtains 
of fine linen richly embroidered, and many altars, 
for the worship of the people. It was to be made in 
such a way that it could be taken down and moved 
as the people journeyed from place to place. 




96 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


God also told Moses to have an ark made, which 
was to go in the tabernacle. The ark was a box or 
chest made of wood and covered with gold inside 
and out, so that no part of the wood could be seen. 
Inside the ark Moses was to place the two tables 
of stone which God was going to give him. The 
cover on top of the ark was to be made of pure gold 
with the golden cherubim, or angels upon it, one at 
either end. These cherubim were to have their 
wings outspread and were to face each other. The 
cover of the ark was to be known as the Mercy 
Seat. Inside the tabernacle there was to be a table 
made of wood, and covered with gold, and also a 
golden candlestick which was to hold the candles 
that gave light in the tabernacle. God also told 
Moses to make still another altar, out of the wood 
and covered with gold, which was to be placed in 
the room with the golden table and the golden 
candlestick. Upon this altar incense was to be 
burned. Incense was a kind of gum mixed with 
spices which when burned sent up sweet smelling 
smoke. This smoke represented the prayers of the 
people ascending to heaven. 

Around the tabernacle there was to be a wall or 
fence making a kind of yard or court. In this court 
there was to be an altar made of wood and covered 
with brass, and large enough to hold sacrifices of 





GOD TELLS MOSES HOW TO BUILD TABERNACLE 97 


oxen, sheep and goats. This altar was to stand 
before the door of the tabernacle. Moses was also 
to make a great basin or laver out of brass, to hold 
water. It was to stand near the brass altar, in the 
court outside the tabernacle. 

And the Lord set aside Aaron and his four sons to 

■ •+ 

be the priests at the tabernacle. Aaron was to be 
the high priest and his sons were to be called priests. 
Aaron was to wear a beautiful garment, with a 
linen cap for his head, and a plate of gold on which 
were the words Holiness to the Lord. Next to his 
skin he was to wear a coat made of fine linen with 
embroidery on it, which should reach to his feet. 
Over the linen coat he was to wear a robe of blue, 
around the lower end of which were to be orna¬ 
ments like pomegranates and between the pome¬ 
granates were to be hung heavy golden bells. Over 
the robe there was still another robe shorter than 
the others, made without sleeves and called the 
ephod. 

On his breast Aaron was to have a square piece 
of cloth with twelve precious stones set in it, and 
richly embroidered. The stones were to be rubies, 
and sapphires and diamonds. Aaron’s sons were 
also to have rich dresses but not so fine as the one 
Aaron was to have. 

When the tabernacle had been built and was 





98 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


ready to be used for worship, Moses was to bring 
Aaron and his sons to the door and there he was 
to wash them with water. Then he was to put the 
beautiful garments on them and anoint Aaron’s 
head with oil. In this way the people might know 
that Aaron and his sons had been set aside or con¬ 
secrated as priests for the service of the Lord. 

After God had told Moses all about this wonder¬ 
ful tabernacle and how it was to be made, he also 
told him who was to make it. One was named 
Bezaleel and the other was named Aholiab, both of 
whom the Lord had taught to work in silver and 
gold and brass, and to set precious stones. Besides 
those, there were many others whom the Lord had 
instructed, so that there was jio lack of workmen 
to make ready this beautiful tabernacle and the 
altars and to prepare the garments for the priests. 

When God gave Moses the two tables of stone, 
which He had written with His own hand, He told 
him to go with Joshua down the mountain and 
return unto the people in the plains below. 

THE GOLDEN CALF 

When the people saw that Moses delayed coming 
down from the mountain, they went to Aaron and 
said: “As for this man Moses who brought us up 




THE GOLDEN CALF 


99 


out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has 
become of him. He went up into Mount Sinai and 
has disappeared from our sight. We would that 
you should make us gods to worship that shall go 
before us. ” 

Aaron told them to take the gold earrings out of 
the ears of their wives, and of their sons and of 
their daughters and bring them to him. All the 
people took off their gold earrings and brought them 
to Aaron. They also brought him their golden orna¬ 
ments so that he had a great quantity of gold. 
With it he made a golden figure of a calf and set it 
up before the people for them to see. The people 
exclaimed, “These are our gods which brought us 
up out of the land of Egypt.” And the people 
bowed down and worshipped the golden calf. 

Then Aaron built an altar before it and told the 
people that on the next day there should be a feast 
to the Lord, and they should offer burnt offerings 
and peace offerings and have plenty to eat and 
drink and that they should bow before the golden 
calf. 

Moses was still up in the mountain of Sinai where 
he was receiving from the hands of the Lord the 
tables of stone that contained the Ten Command¬ 
ments and directions about building the tabernacle. 
The Lord told him that the people had corrupted 


9 


> 

» > 




100 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


themselves and were worshiping idols, and that he 
should hasten down from the mountain and punish 
them according as the Lord should tell him. 

Moses hastened down from the top of the moun¬ 
tain with the two tables of stone in his hands. The 
tables were slabs of stone and the writing on the 
tables was the writing of God and the tables were 
were written on both sides. 

When Moses came near the people, Joshua said: 
“ There is the noise of war in the camp. ” And Moses 
replied, “It is not the voice of those that shout for 
victory, but the noise I hear is like those who sing.” 
And he came near the camp and saw the people 
dancing before the golden calf. 

Moses was so angry with the people for this idol¬ 
atry that he cast the tables of stone out of his hands 
and they broke in pieces as they fell to the ground. 
Then he took the calf which they had made and 
burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and 
strewed the ashes into the waters. 

Then Moses turned to Aaron and said: “Why 
did you let the people bring such a great sin upon 
themselves?” And Aaron began to excuse himself 

and say that the people wanted gods to worship 

* 

and that he thought that Moses had left them alto¬ 
gether and told him how he had made the golden 
calf. This story made Moses angrier than ever. 




THE GOLDEN CALF 


101 


Then Moses stood before the people and cried 
out, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto 
me.” And all the sons of Levi came and stood by 
Moses. Then he told the sons of Levi to take their 
swords and go in and out from gate to gate through¬ 
out the camp and slay every man who had been con¬ 
cerned in the idolatry, for the Lord "wanted to 
purify the camp of all wickedness. 

The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded them. 
They drew their swords and fell upon the worship¬ 
ers and pursued them from gate to gate throughout 
the camp and there fell on that day about three 
thousand men. 

Moses knew that God was angry with the people 
of Israel for worshiping the golden calf. So he 
prayed to Him to forgive the people for their sins, 
and lead them on to the promised land. God prom¬ 
ised Moses to forgive the people, and said: “Whoso¬ 
ever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my 
book. ” 

The Lord then told Moses to hew two tables of 
stone like those he had broken and to come again 
to the top of Mount Sinai, and to bring no man 
with him, nor to let any man be seen anywhere on 
the mountain, nor to let the flocks and herds feed 
near the mountain. Moses rose up early in the 
morning, took the two tables of stone which he had 




102 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


cut out of the mountain and went up alone into the 
mount to talk with God. He was there with the 
Lord forty days and forty nights, and neither ate 
nor drank all that time. 

The Lord again gave Moses the Ten Command¬ 
ments and the words of the covenant written upon 
the tables of stone, and Moses went down the moun¬ 
tain unto the people, and the skin of his face shone 
so brightly that the people were afraid to come near 
him. But he called to them and put a veil over his 
face and told the people all the things the Lord 
had commanded them to do. 

Then the people prepared to build the ark accord¬ 
ing to the way the Lord had directed them. They 
brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings and all 
their ornaments of gold, then they brought fine 
linen and purple and blue and scarlet cloth, and 
goats’ skins, and badger skins, so that there was 
plenty of material to build the tabernacle and the 
altars. The rulers also brought jewels and precious 
stones for the ephod and the breastplate, and spices 
and oil for the light and for the anointing. Every¬ 
body who had anything needed for the tabernacle 
gave it to the Lord for the building of His place of 
worship. 

Then Bezaleel and Aholiab and the wise hearted 
men of Israel wrought every man according to his 




THE WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES 103 


wisdom. The women spun the cloth and wove the 
curtains. The tabernacle was soon ready, the poles 
were set in the ground, the curtains were hung, the 
ark and the altars and laver were made, the priests 
were consecrated, and the tabernacle was complete. 
Then the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle and 
a cloud covered the tent of the congregation. 

The Lord told Moses that when the cloud stood 
over the tabernacle the people were to rest at that 
place on their journey, no matter how long the cloud 
rested over the tabernacle. When the cloud was 
taken up from over the tabernacle, and moved 
before it, the people were to journey as long as the 
cloud led them. And so the cloud of the Lord was 
upon the tabernacle by night, and the people could 
see the will of the Lord throughout all their journey. 


THE WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES 

The people of Israel stayed at the foot of Mount 
Sinai for more than a year but now the time had 
come when they must leave Mount Sinai and take 
up their journey to the land of Canaan. They were 
divided into companies called tribes. There were 
twelve of these tribes each one taking its name 
from the descendants of Jacob or Joseph. The 
Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to number the 




104_HEROES OF ISRAEL_ 

people of Israel, and to count them all by tribes. 

When Moses and Aaron had done this they found 
there were six hundred and three thousand, five 
hundred and fifty people. This was a great crowd 
to wander forty years in the wilderness but the 
Lord had promised them that they should suffer 
no harm and be brought safely into the land of 
Canaan. 

The men that belonged to the tribe of Levi were 
not numbered with those who were to fight the 
enemies of Israel but were appointed to take care 
of the tabernacle. Whenever the children of Israel 
moved in their journey, the men of the tribe of Levi 
were to take down the tabernacle and carry it along 
on the journey following the cloud that was to lead 
them. When the cloud stopped it was the duty of 
these men to set up the tabernacle again. The 
tabernacle was holy and none but the priests and 
the Levites were allowed to go near or touch any 
part of it. 

When the time came for the people to leave 
Mount Sinai, the cloud arose from over the taber¬ 
nacle and the people took up their march. Each 
tribe had its own place and over each one was a 
captain. They marched like an army carrying 
standards and banners with them. The Levites 
went along carrying the different parts of the taber- 




THE WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES 105 


nacle. They marched for three days until they came 
to the wilderness of Paran when the cloud stopped, 
and here the people made their camp and rested. 

Now the people had no meat to eat in the wilder¬ 
ness. The quails that the Lord had sent them in 
the beginning of their journey had been for a very 
short time and they had eaten nothing but manna. 
They began to complain and cry out: “Who shall 
give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which 
we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, and the 
melons, and the leeks, and the onions and the gar- 
lick. Our soul is dried away, for there is nothing 
besides this manna before our eyes.” 

Moses heard the people cry out in the door of his 
tent and Moses was displeased with them and so 
was the Lord. The Lord then told Moses to tell the 
people that they should have flesh to eat not only 
one day or two days but for a whole month and that 
they need not eat their flocks nor their herds in 
order to satisfy their hunger for meat. Then there 
came a strong wind and great quantities of quails 
were blown up from the sea. They fell over the 
camp until the ground was covered with them. The 
people gathered the quails and began to eat. Hardly 
had they put the meat in their mouths when the 
wrath of the Lord was kindled against them and 
the people were smitten with a great plague so that 





106_HEROES OF ISRAEL_ 

many of them died. In this way the Lord punished 
them for not depending on Him and for desiring 
things He did not furnish. 

Soon the cloud was lifted again and the people 
followed it until they came to a place called Haze- 
roth. At this place the cloud stopped and again the 
people made their camp. 

Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, found 
fault with him because he had taken a wife who was 
not one of the children of Israel. So Miriam and 
Aaron spoke against Moses, and said: “Has the 
Lord only spoken by Moses? Has He not spoken by 
us also?” And the Lord heard what Miriam and 
Aaron said and His anger was kindled against them. 

He called Aaron and Miriam and told them to 
go to Moses to the tabernacle. Here He told them 
that Moses was His servant and that He would 
speak to the people only through Moses. Then the 
cloud left the tabernacle and Miriam was covered 
with leprosy and was as white as snow. 

When Aaron saw that his sister had become a 
leper, he said to Moses: “Lay not our sins upon us 
and let her not be as one dead.” And Aaron was 
overwhelmed with the sin he had committed and 
sorry for his sister’s leprosy. 

Moses cried unto the Lord and said: “Heal her 
now, 0 God, I beseech thee!” The Lord heard the 




SPYING OUT THE LAND OF CANAAN 107 


prayer of Moses and had her shut out from the 
camp for seven days and after the seven days her 
leprosy was healed. Then the people journeyed 
from Hazeroth into the wilderness of Paran. 


SPYING OUT THE LAND OF CANAAN 

The people of Israel were now not very far from 
the land of Canaan. Moses told them they should 
go into the land and take possession of it as the 
Lord had promised. Moses sent spies into the land 
of Canaan that they might see the land and the 
people that lived in it and report whether they 
were strong or weak, few or many, and what cities 
they had and whether they dwelt in tents or in 
forts. He told the spies to find out whether the 
land was fat or lean and to bring back some of the 
fruits of the land. 

Then the spies went into Canaan and searched 
all the land from one end to the other. They came 
to the brook of Eschol where they found such won¬ 
derful grapes that they cut down a branch of a vine 
which had but one cluster of grapes, but it took 
two men to bear it between them upon a staff. 
They also gathered pomegranates and figs and after 
forty days returned to Moses. 

They told Moses of the people of the land, that 





108 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the land was fat and there was plenty to eat and 
to drink, also that there were many people and they 
were strong and lived in cities. They declared that 
the men were of great statue and that they saw 
the sons of Anak which were giants. 

This made the people afraid and they murmured 
against Moses and Aaron and said: “Would God 
that we had died in the land of Egypt or in the 
wilderness. Why has the Lord brought us into this 
land to fall by the sword, and our wives and our 
children to be a prey to the wolves in the land of 
Canaan? Let us choose another captain and return 
to Egypt.” 

Then Joshua and Caleb who had been two of the 
spies said to the people: “The land through which 
we passed is a good land, a land which flows with 
milk and honey. Let us march into the land for the 
Lord has led us and we will fear them not!” 

But all the people tried to stone Joshua and Caleb 
after what they had said. The Lord was angry with 
the people of Israel and told Moses that He would 
send a pestilence and destroy many of them. But 
Moses prayed to the Lord not to destroy the people 
and to bear with them for they were not ready to 
enter the promised land. 

The Lord then told Moses that the people should 
turn back into the wilderness and there they should 




PUNISHING THE ISRAELITES 


109 


wander forty years until all those who refused to 
go into the land of Canaan were dead. He would 
bring their children into the land of Canaan, and 
Caleb and Joshua the two good spies, should they 
be alive, would lead the people into the land of 
Canaan. Then the people turned back into the wil¬ 
derness for their long wandering of forty years. 

PUNISHING THE ISRAELITES 

While the people of Israel were in the wilderness 
they found a man that gathered sticks upon the 
Sabbath day. They brought him to Moses and Aar¬ 
on, who ordered him to be put in a place of confine¬ 
ment until the will of the Lord should be made 
known. The Lord said to Moses: “The man shall 
be put to death. All the people shall stone him to 
death with stones outside the camp.” And so they 
stoned him to death for disobeying the word of 
the Lord and breaking the Sabbath day. 

Now there were three men Korah, Dathan, and 
Abiram who persuaded two hundred and fifty oth¬ 
ers to join them in a rebellion against Moses and 
Aaron. They went to Moses and said: “You and 
Aaron take too much upon yourselves; there are 
many others in this camp as good as you; why do 
you lift yourself above all the congregation of Israel? ” 





110 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


When Moses heard this and saw the men in 
rebellion against him and Aaron, he was overcome 
with distress and bowed himself to the ground. 
Now Korah was one of the tribe of Levi and was 
one of those who waited on the priests of the 
tabernacle. He wanted to be a priest himself and 
wanted someone besides Moses to be the ruler of 
the people. 

Moses told the men who had come to him that 
each one of them should take a censer and burn 
incense in it on the next day and Aaron should do 
likewise. They were all to come to him with their 
censers burning and the Lord would show them who 
was to be the high priest. 

The next day came Korah, Dathan, and Abiram 
and the two hundred and fifty men with their cen¬ 
sers burning with incense, and Aaron came also 
with his censer. They stood before the door of the 
tabernacle for the Lord to choose which should be 
the high priest, and all the people stood near. 

The Lord then said to Moses and Aaron: “Sep¬ 
arate yourselves from these men that I may con¬ 
sume them in a moment. And tell all the people 
to separate themselves from Korah and his men.” 
And Moses and Aaron and all the people of Israel 
did as the Lord commanded. Then Moses told the 
people that if the ground should open and swallow 




PUNISHING THE ISRAELITES 


111 


up these men they would know that Korah, Dathan, 
and Abiram had offended the Lord. 

Hardly had Moses and Aaron and all the people 
separated themselves from the wicked men, when 
the ground opened and swallowed them up with 
all their tents and goods and everything that was 
theirs. Seeing the earth open the people fled with 
a great cry saying: “Lest the earth swallow us up 
also.” 

Then there came a fire from the Lord that con¬ 
sumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered 
incense. When the people of Israel saw these men 
destroyed by fire they murmured against Moses, 
saying: “These were good men and meant no harm. 
You have killed the people of the Lord.” 

Again was the anger of the Lord kindled against 
the people of Israel for their murmurings and he 
sent a great plague among them, and many began 
to die. Then Moses told Aaron: “Take a censer 
and put fire from the altar in it, and go quickly 
among the people and make an atonement for their 
sins.” 

Aaron did as Moses told him, and with his censer 
stood between the living and the dead, and prayed 
the Lord to stop the plague. The Lord heard the 
prayer of his servants and the plague ceased, but 
not before nearly fifteen thousand had died. 




112 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


The Lord then told Moses to make each head of 
a tribe bring a rod, and every man who brought a 
rod was to have his name written on it. Aaron’s 
name was to be written upon the rod of the tribe 
of Levi. Moses was to take those rods and lay them 
before the ark and let them stay there all night. 
God said: “The rod of the man whom I shall choose 
shall blossom.” In this way the people of Israel 
were to know whom the Lord wanted for His high 
priest. 

The people did as Moses said and every tribe 
sent a rod. Moses wrote the names of the princes 
or leaders upon the rods and laid them before the 
ark in the tabernacle and left them there all night. 
The next morning he went to look for them and 
behold, the rod of Aaron had budded, and grown 
blossoms, and borne almonds in the night. 

Moses then brought all the rods before the people 
of Israel so that each man might take his rod. When 
the princes saw that the rod of Aaron had grown 
blossoms and borne almonds they knew that the 
Lord had chosen him to be high priest. God or¬ 
dered Moses to take Aaron’s rod and put it again in 
the tabernacle and keep it there so that the children 
of Israel might always know that Aaron and his 
sons were to be priests of the tabernacle. 

The children of Israel continued on their journey 




PUNISHING THE ISRAELITES 


113 


and came to the desert of Zin. Here Miriam, the 
sister of Moses and Aaron, died and was buried. 
There was no water for the people and they gath¬ 
ered together and complained to Moses: “ Why have 
you brought us into this wilderness that we and 
* our cattle should die? Why have you made us 
come out of Egypt into this evil place? Here there 
are no figs, or vines, or pomegranates, neither is 
there any water to drink.” 

Moses and Aaron left the complaining multitude 
and went into the tabernacle and fell upon the 
ground, and prayed that God should tell them what 
to do. The Lord said to Moses: “Take your rod 
and gather all the people together and speak to the 
rock which is before the people, and it shall gush 
forth with water so that all the children of Israel 
and their cattle shall drink.” 

Then Moses and Aaron called all the people to¬ 
gether before the rock and said to them: “Hear 
now, ye rebels! must we bring you water out of 
this rock?” And the thirsty people watched him 
with great eagerness. Moses lifted his hand and 
smote the rock twice and the water came out abund¬ 
antly, and all the people drank and their cattle also. 

In their journeyings the children of Israel came to 
Mount Hor. Here the Lord told Moses and Aaron 
that Aaron should not enter into the promised land 




114 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


but should die in the wilderness. He then told 
Moses to bring Aaron and Eleazor his son up into 
Mount Hor. After they had ascended the mountain 
the Lord told Moses to strip the garments from 
Aaron and put them on Eleazor his son. And Moses 
did as the Lord had directed him to do. Then Aaron 
died upon the top of the mountain, and Moses and 
Eleazor left him there. They then came down the 
mountain, and told the people that Aaron was dead. 
When the people heard this they mourned for Aaron 
for thirty days. 


BALAAM IS MADE TO PROPHESY 

The Israelites next journeyed by the way of the 
Red Sea to march around the land of Edom, and the 
people were much discouraged on account of the 
way. Again the people began to ^complain and abuse 
Moses. They said to him: “Why have you brought 
us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is 
no bread, neither is there any water and we loathe 
this manna.” 

To punish the people for their lack of faith the 
Lord sent fiery serpents among them, that crawled 
over the ground and into the tents and bit the 
people, so that many of them died. 

Moses prayed for the people and asked God to 




BALAAM IS MADE TO PROPHESY 


115 


spare them. The Lord said to Moses: “Make a 
fiery serpent and set it upon a pole, and it shall 
come to pass that every one that is bitten, if he shall 
look upon the serpent, he shall live.” And Moses 
made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole so 
that the people could see it. 1 If any man was bitten 
by any of the fiery serpents, all he had to do was to 
look up at the brass serpent on the pole, and he lived. 

After the fiery serpents had disappeared, Israel 
marched onward, and at last came to the plains of 
Moab. The king of the country was named Balak, 
and he feared the children of Israel for they were 
many and the Lord had made them powerful against 
their enemies. He thought they had come to make 
war against him and he did not have enough soldiers 
to fight so great a company. Therefore, he sent to a 
man named Balaam, saying: “There is a people come 
over from Egypt; they cover the face of the earth 
and they abide over against me. Come now and curse 
these people that I may smite them and drive them 
out of the land.” And he promised many things to 
Balaam if he would curse the children of Israel and 
bring evil upon them. 

Balaam did not want to go, and sent the messen¬ 
gers back to Balak. Again the king sent more mes¬ 
sengers, princes this time, saying: “Let nothing 
hinder you from coming to me. I will promote you 




116 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


to very great honor, and I will do whatever you 
ask me to do. Come, therefore, and curse these 
people that I may smite them and drive them out 
of the land.” 

At last Balaam was persuaded, and rose up in 
the morning and saddled his ass, and went away 
with the princes of Moab. But God’s anger was 
kindled against him for going, and for yielding to 
the temptation of riches and honors to do wrong in 
trying to bring evil upon the people of Israel. 

As Balaam rode along on his ass an angel of the 
Lord stood in the way, with a sword drawn in his 
hand, and the ass saw the angel but Balaam could 
not see him. And the ass turned aside out of the 
way and went into the field. Balaam could not 
understand why the ass left the path and smote her 
to turn her back in the way. 

A little further on they came to a narrow path 
with a wall on either side and again the angel stood 
in the path. Again the ass saw the angel and Balaam 
could not see him. When the ass saw the angel she 
thrust herself against the wall and crushed Bal¬ 
aam’s foot against the hard stone. Balaam cried 
aloud and smote the ass again. Then the angel dis¬ 
appeared and Balaam rode on not knowing why his 
ass was behaving in the way she did. 

They came to a narrow path where there was no 




BALAAM IS MADE TO PROPHESY 


117 


way to turn either to the right or to the left. Again 
the angel appeared to the ass, which frightened the 
poor animal so much that she fell down in the path 
and refused to move. Balaam was very angry and 
began to beat the ass with his long staff. 

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and 
she began to speak to Balaam, “What have I done 
to you that you should beat me three times?” she 
said. 

“Because you have made sport of me. If there 
were a sword in my hand I would kill you/'’ answered 
Balaam. 

The ass spoke up and asked Balaam: “Am I not 
your ass, upon which you have ridden ever since you 
have owned me, and have I ever before made sport 
of you, and have I not always done your bidding?” 
And Balaam was compelled to confess that the ani¬ 
mal had always been a faithful servant. 

Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam and he 
saw the angel standing in the way with his sword 
drawn in his hand. Then Balaam bowed his head 
and fell flat on his face. The angel spoke to him 
and said: “Why have you smitten this poor beast 
three times? It was I who stood in the way because 
the Lord is not pleased with what you do. The ass 
saw me and turned three times; unless she had 
turned I would have slain you and saved her alive.” 




118 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


“Go with the men, but only the word which I 
shall speak to you shall you speak,’’ said the angel 
to Balaam. And Balaam rode on with the princes 
of Moab until he came to King Balak. 

Balak went out to meet him on the way and 
greeted him, and promised him all honors if he 
would curse the children of Israel. But Balaam 
answered: “Have I now any power to say anything? 
The word that the Lord puts in my mouth that 
only shall I speak.” With that the king was com¬ 
pelled to be content. He sent oxen and sheep to 
Balaam and showed him great respect hoping there¬ 
by to get him to curse the children of Israel. 

On the next day Balak took Balaam into a high 
place where he could see the hosts of Israel. Balaam 
said: “Build me here seven altars and prepare me 
here seven oxen and seven rams.” And Balak built 
the altars and he and Balaam offered on each altar 
a bullock and a ram. Then Balaam told the king 
to stand by the burnt offering while he went off to 
speak to the Lord. Then God met Balaam and put 
words in his mouth that he should speak when he 
came back to Balak. 

Balaam returned and Balak expected him to 
bring curses upon the people of Israel, but instead 
of that Balaam began to speak the words that God 
had put in his mouth. He said: “How shall I curse 




_BALAAM IS MADE TO PROPHESY 119 

whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom 
the Lord has not defied?” Then he told Balak 
that the people of Israel should be blessed above 
all nations. Balak was very angry and said to 
Balaam: “What have you done to me? I brought 
you here to curse my enemies and see you have 
blessed them altogether. ” 

Then Balak took him to another high place where 
he could see the hosts of Israel and built seven altars 
and offered up seven bullocks and seven rams and 
asked Balaam to curse his enemies. But again the 
Lord put words into Balaam's mouth and he told 
Balak that the people of Israel should rise up like 
a lion and not lie down until they had eaten of the 
prey and drunken of the blood of the slain. 

Then Balak tried again in a third place, and again 
they built seven altars and offered seven bullocks 
and seven rams as they had done before. By this 
time Balaam knew that the Lord would not let him 
curse His people, and so he looked toward the wilder¬ 
ness where the people of Israel were abiding in their 
tents. Then the spirit of God came upon Balaam 
and he prophesied a great future for the people of 
Israel while King Balak and the princes of Moab 
stood by in anger and listened to his words. 

Then Balak's wrath was great. He said to Balaam: 
“I had thought to promote you to great honor. I 




120 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


had called you to curse my enemies and behold, 
you have blessed them three times. You shall have 
neither the riches nor the honor I had promised. 
Therefore, go you back to your own home.” And 
Balaam rose and went back to his home and Balak 
also went his way. 

ON THE BORDER OF THE PROMISED LAND 

The time had come to number the people of Israel 
again, and Moses and Eleazor, the high priest, be¬ 
gan to count the men in the tribes, as Moses and 
Aaron had done at Sinai. After the counting was 
over it was found that all those who had been 
afraid to go over into Canaan the first time were 
dead, just as the Lord had said. Only Caleb and 
Joshua, the good spies, were left, for the Lord had 
promised that they should live and lead the people 
into the promised land. 

Now the Midianites had tempted the children of 
Israel to worship idols and to commit sin in the eyes 
of the Lord. In order to punish these heathen, 
Moses sent twelve thousand men against them to 
give them battle. God gave the Israelites a great 
victory over their enemies, and their kings were 
slain. 

The Midianites were despoiled of all their goods, 





ON THE BORDER OF THE PROMISED LAND 121 


and all their cattle, and thousands of their oxen, 
asses, and sheep. Their cities were burned, and even 
the castles which they lived in were destroyed by 
fire. 

After the battle was over the leaders of the hosts 
of Israel came to Moses and said: “Thy servants 
have taken count of the men under our charge, 
and there is not one missing.” Thus did the Lord 
give the children of Israel a great victory over their 
enemies. 

At last the people of Israel came near the land of 
Canaan. For forty years they had been wandering 
in the wilderness, and a new generation of them had 
been born, and grown into manhood. During all 
these years the Lord had provided them with food 
and water, had protected them from their enemies, 
had punished them for their sins, had given them 
laws, and had led them on with his pillar of cloud 
by day and his pillar of fire by night. Now they 
were near the river Jordan and there they made 
their camp. 

While they waited for the Lord to direct them, 
two of the tribes of the children of Israel came to 
Moses and told him they did not wish to go over 
Jordan, but desired to stay in the land of Gilead 
where they were. They had a great many cattle, 
and the land was rich and well watered and they 




122 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


were satisfied as they were. They said to Moses: 
“Let this land be given to thy servants for a pos¬ 
session and bring us not over Jordan. We will build 
sheepfolds here for our cattle and cities for our little 
ones.” 

Moses was angry with these tribes, for he thought 
they were afraid to go to war with the people of 
Canaan and asked their leaders: “Shall your breth¬ 
ren go to war, and shall you sit here?” 

The leaders had no such intention, and told Moses 
they would leave their cattle and their wives and 
children in the land of Gilead, and the men would 
go forward and help their brethren conquer the land 
of Canaan. After that the men would return and 
live in the land of Gilead where they had built them 
sheepfolds and left their families. 

Moses told the two tribes which were the tribes 
of Reuben and Gad, that they might have the land 
of Gilead for their own, provided the men go across 
Jordan and help the others conquer the country. 
And so the men built their sheepfolds, and houses 
for their wives and children to live in on that side 
of Jordan, but the men themselves made ready to 
accompany their brethren in their march to the 
promised land. Half of the tribe of Manasseh asked 
to join the tribes of Reuben and Gad and stay on 
that side of Jordan, and Moses allowed them also. 




THE LAST DAYS OF MOSES 


123 


THE LAST DAYS OF MOSES 

t 

When the children of Israel were in camp near 
the river Jordan, Moses talked to them for the last 
time. He reminded them of how the Lord had 
brought them out of Egypt, and had kept them for 
forty years in the wilderness and had promised to 
make of them a very great nation. He went over all 
the laws and commandments of the Lord and in¬ 
structed the people in the service of God, and told 
them what was His will concerning them. 

He told them the time had come for them to 
march into the promised land and to take possession 
of it. There they would find beautiful cities which 
they had not built, and houses full of goods which 
they had not bought, and wells they had not digged, 
and vineyards and olive trees they had not planted. 
There should be plenty to eat and to drink, only 
they must not forget the Lord. 

Always they must remember their journey in the 
wilderness, and how for forty years they had been 
led by the Lord, and how the manna had fallen for 
their food, and how their clothes had not w r orn out, 
and how their feet had not been sore or swollen on 
the long marches. The Lord would take care of 




124 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


them in the new land just as he had in the wilderness, 
wilderness. 

Moses told the people that the Lord would go 
before them as they passed over Jordan, and that 
He would give them the victory over the nations 
they would find there. When they reached this 
land they would find streams that ran through the 
fields, and springs of water that ran out of the ground. 
They would find land where the wheat grew, and 
grapes and figs and pomegranates and olives. Under 
the ground there was iron and other metals from 
which they could make the things they needed 
to use. 

The people of Canaan worshiped idols, and built 
altars on the mountains and high places where they 
offered sacrifices. They even slew their own sons 
and daughters in offerings to their heathen gods. 
Moses told the people of Israel to destroy all these 
idols and tear down all the altars and images to the 
false gods. By no means must the children of Israel 
be led into the worship of these heathen gods, lest 
the wrath of the Lord be kindled against them. 

Some of the cities of Canaan were to be set aside 
as cities of refuge. They meant that certain places 
should be named, where any man who had killed 
another by accident might flee and be safe from 
punishment. All murders, of course, were to be 




THE LAST DAYS OF MOSES 


125 


punished by death, but if one killed another with¬ 
out intending to do it, he was to flee at once to one 
of these cities of refuge, where he could live safely 
and not suffer from the vengeance of the relatives 
and friends of the man he had unintentionally killed. 

Finally Moses told the people that if they would 
obey the word of the Lord they would become 
greater than any other nation. The Lord would 
bless them and their children, and their enemies 
would be afraid and flee before their faces. They 
were the chosen people and God’s care was to be 
always about them in the land of promise. If 
they did not heed the words of the Lord and did 
not obey his commandments they should suffer 
great disasters. The seed they sowed would bear 
but little grain, and the locusts would destroy even 
that; the grapes they hoped to gather would be 
eaten by worms; and they should have sickness 
that no one could cure. Worse than all, their ene¬ 
mies should take them captive and destroy all their 
cattle and food, and take them away as slaves to 
distant lands. 

All this and much more did the old Moses tell 
the people of Israel as they camped by Jordan. 
They listened to him day after day as he preached 
to them and instructed them, and told them of the 
life that was before them in the land of Canaan. 




126 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


The time had come for them to have a new leader, 
for Moses was old and was not to go over Jordan 
with the hosts of Israel. The Lord was going to 
take him to Himself and Joshua would be the leader 
of Israel. Then Moses took Joshua into the taber¬ 
nacle, and the Lord appeared to them in a pillar of 
cloud. Then he anointed Joshua to be the leader of 
Israel after Moses had died. 

Moses wrote all the laws down in a book and gave 
them to the priests. Then he commanded them 
every seven years to gather the people together and 
read these laws to them, so that they might know 
them well and obey them. He gave the book to the 
Levites who put it in the ark which they bore on 
their journeys from place to place. 

The time had come for Moses to die. He was a 
hundred and twenty years old, but his eye was not 
dim nor was his body weak. He had been kept by 
the Lord in all the vigor and power of his manhood, 
so that no man could say he was old and feeble. 
The Lord told him to go to the mountain of Nebo, 
to the top of Pisgah, and Moses did as the Lord 
had commanded. There he looked over all the land 
of Gilead, and across the Jordan to the places where 
the people of Israel were to go. The Lord then 
said to Moses: “This is the land which I swore 
with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. I have 




RAHAB SAVES THE SPIES 


127 


caused you to see it but you shall not go over there.” 

Then Moses died alone with God on top of the 
mountain and God buried him, but no man knew 
where, nor has any one found his grave to this day. 

The people of Israel wept for Moses thirty days 
as was their custom. Joshua the son of Nun became 
their leader, for Moses had laid his hands upon him, 
and the Lord had given him wisdom. Therefore, 
the people of Israel obeyed the words of Joshua 
even as they had obeyed the words of Moses. 

RAHAB SAVES THE SPIES 

After the death of Moses the Lord said to Joshua: 
“Moses my servant is dead; now, therefore, arise 
and go over this Jordan with all this people, into 
the land which I will give you.” Then Joshua called 
the officers and told them to get the people ready 
and prepare food for the march, for within three 
days they would pass over Jordan. 

Joshua sent two men to spy out secretly the land 
where the people were going, even as far as Jericho. 
The spies left, crossed the river, and after a while 
came to the house of a woman named Rahab, who 
lived in Jericho. Rahab took them into her house 
and gave them food and shelter. 

But some one told the king of Jericho: “There 




128_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

came two men into the city by night and they are 
of the children of Israel, who are camped beyond 
Jordan. Perhaps they come to search out the land.” 
And the king sent men to search the house of Rahab 
that they might find the spies. 

When they came to the house of Rahab they 
called out: “Bring out the men who are with you 
for they are spies of the children of Israel and have 
come to search the country.” 

Rahab had no intention of betraying the spies, 
and quickly hid them under the stalks of flax which 
she had piled up on the roof of the house. Then she 
replied to the king’s men: “There came men here 
but I did not know who they were nor where they 
came from. The men went out about the time the 
gates of the city were shut, but where they went I 
do not know. Pursue after them quickly and you 
will overtake them.” 

The men departed and sought for the spies as far 
as the fords of the river Jordan, but they did not find 
them for they lay safe under the flax on the roof 
of the house of Rahab. 

Rahab went to where the spies were and said to 
them: “I know the Lord has given you this land, 
and that terror has fallen upon all of us and we 
faint because of you. We have heard how the Lord 
dried up the waters of the Red Sea, and slew your 




RAHAB SAVES THE SPIES 


129 


enemies and fed you in the wilderness, and there 
remains no courage in us because of you.” Rahab 
then begged the spies to spare the lives of her father, 
her mother, her brothers and her sisters because she 
had hidden them from the men of the king of Jericho. 

The spies promised Rahab that they would spare 
all those whom she wished saved. They said: “ When 
the Lord has given us this land we will deal kindly 
and truly with you.” The spies told Rahab to bind 
a scarlet thread in the window of her house and to 
get all her kindred inside, gnd that her house should 
then be safe from the hosts of the children of Israel. 

Rahab was satisfied and since the gates of the city 
were shut and the guards were placed at the en¬ 
trances, she purposed to let the spies down the 
walls of the city. 

Rahab’s house was upon the walls of the town, 
and her windows overlooked the walls outside. She 
took a cord and bound it around each spy, and let 
him d6wn the wall from her windows, until each spy 
w~as safe on the outside of the city. She had already 
told them to fly to the mountains and hide for three 
days, lest their pursuers meet them at the fords of 
the river. After three days the pursuers would 
return and the men could go their way. 

The spies did as Rahab told them and were safe 
from those who sought their lives. Rahab brought 




130 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


her father and mother and sisters and brothers into 
her house and kept them there. She bound a scarlet 
thread on the window of her house as the spies had 
told her to do, so that when the hosts of Israel came 
they might know the place where she lived and that 
all her people were to be saved. 

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERICHO 

After the spies had returned to Joshua and the 
three days had passed in which the people were to 
get ready for the march, Joshua moved all the child¬ 
ren of Israel to the river Jordan. Then Joshua said 
to the people: “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow 
the Lord will do wonders among you.” He then 
ordered the priests to take up the ark of the coven¬ 
ant and march before the people, and the priests 
did as Joshua commanded them. 

Then Joshua told the people that the priests 
should bear the ark to the river Jordan, and that as 
soon as the feet of the priests touched the waters of 
the river the waters would open and the people 
should cross the river on the dry ground. The next 
day all the hosts of Israel, according to their tribes, 
stood before the river ready to march into the 
promised land. 

The priests came with the ark to the brink of the 




THE DESTRUCTION OF JERICHO 


131 


river. As soon as their feet touched the water, the 
river ceased to flow and all the waters were held 
back and the dry ground appeared. The priests 
then stood firm with the ark and all the people 
marched across the dry bed of the river, carrying 
their tents and household goods and driving their 
cattle with them, until all Israel was across the 
river Jordan, except those whom Moses had prom¬ 
ised should live in the land of Gilead. 

Joshua commanded that each tribe should select 
one man and each man should gather a stone from 
the bottom of the river and bring it over Jordan 
and leave it in a heap as a memorial to the fact that 
the waters divided and that the children of Israel 
marched over the dry ground. After all the people 
had passed over, the priests came with the ark of 
the covenant. 

When everybody was safe across the river the 
waters came together and the river Jordan flowed 
on as before. 

After the people came up out of Jordan they 
made their camp at a place called Gilgal, not far 
from Jericho. The twelve stones which Joshua had 
ordered to be brought from the bottom of the river 
were set up there. He said to the people: “When 
your children shall ask their fathers in time to 
come, What mean these stones? then they shall 




132 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


answer, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.” 

At Gilgal the people kept the Passover and after 
that rested and prepared for the conquest of Jericho. 
Up to this time the manna had been falling every 
day for the people to eat, and there had never been 
any lack of food. But at Gilgal the people found old 
corn of the land of Canaan, and they parched it and 
ate of it. After that the manna fell no more, for the 
people had abundance of the fruit and grain of the 
land where they were. 

When Joshua came near to Jericho there appeared 
a man before him with a sword drawn in his hand. 
Joshua went up to him and asked: “Are you for us 
or are you for our enemies?” The man answered: 
“Nay; I am captain of the host of the Lord.” 

Joshua knew that he spoke unto the Lord who 
had appeared to him in the shape of a man and he 
fell with his face to the ground and worshiped the 
Lord. Then the man said to Joshua: “Loose your 
shoes from off your feet, for the place where you 
stand is holy.” And Joshua took off his shoes as 
the man had commanded him. 

Now the city of Jericho was surrounded by a wall, 
and the gates were shut and closely guarded for 
fear of the children of Israel. None went out and 
none came in the gates of the city. 

The Lord commanded Joshua to put the children 




THE DESTRUCTION OF JERICHO 


133 


of Israel in marching order and march them around 
the city once a day for six days. Seven priests were 
to bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the 
ark and blow them as they marched around the 
city of Jericho. On the seventh day the people were 
to march around the city seven times and the priests 
were to shout with a great shout so that the walls of 
the city should fall down flat before the noise and 
shouting of the people of Israel. 

Joshua called the people and the priests and ap- 
pointed them to their duties as the Lord had com¬ 
manded. The people marched around the city and 
the seven priests blew their trumpets before the 
ark as it was carried in the processions once a day 
for six days. 

The people of Jericho did not know what to make 
of this strange procession, as it moved around their 
walls day after day. The people made no noise on 
those days but moved silently, only the seven priests 
blew the seven trumpets. The people of Jericho 
doubtless made sport of this procession and thought 
it was a strange kind of warfare and a poor way to 
conquer a walled city full of armed soldiers. 

On the seventh day, however, the Israelites rose 
about dawn and the procession started. The long 
line had encompassed the city, and the priests were 
blowing their trumpets. Joshua said to the people: 




134 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


“Shout, for the Lord has given you the city.” The 
people shouted with a great shout, every man at 
the top of his voice, the priests blew their trumpets, 
and behold, the walls of Jericho began to shake, 
then to waver, and then they fell flat on the 
ground. 

The people of Israel rushed in and took the city, 
and captured all the rich possessions of the people 
and made the city their own. Joshua told the two 
young men who had been spies to find the house of 
Rahab and see that nothing happened to her or to 
her family, as the spies had promised her. 

So the spies searched the city and found the 
house of Rahab unhurt by the fall of the walls and 
the scarlet string was on the window. They went 
in and found her and all her family and brought 
them out unhurt with all their goods. They took 
them outside the city and left them in the camp of 
Israel. 

Then the children of Israel set fire to Jericho and 
burned it to the ground, but they saved all the 
silver and gold and the vessels of brass and iron 
and put them into the treasury of the Lord. Rahab 
and her family went to dwell in the camp of Israel 
where they spent the rest of their days because 
they had hid the spies which Joshua had sent out 
to search the country. ♦ 




THE CAPTURE OF AI 


135 


THE CAPTURE OF AI 

Joshua sent men from Jericho to a city called Ai, 
saying to them: “Go up and view the country.” 
And the men went up and explored all the land 
around Ai. When they came back to Joshua they 
reported that the people were few in number and 
that it would take only two or three thousand men 
to capture the land. 

So Joshua sent three thousand men to capture 
Ai, but when they reached the city and the men of 
Ai came out to give battle, the soldiers of Joshua 
were afraid and fled before the men of Ai, and about 
thirty-six of them were killed. When Joshua heard 
of this he tore his clothes and fell with his face to 
the ground and put dust upon his head, according 
to the custom in those days of expressing grief. 

“What shall we do when Israel flees before the 
face of its enemies?” Joshua cried aloud to the 
Lord. “Behold, the Canaanites shall hear of it and 
shall surround us and cut us off from the face of 
the earth.” 

The Lord told Joshua to rise up from the ground, 
and sanctify the people for there was one among 
them who had sinned and that was the reason why 




136 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the soldiers of Israel fled before the men of Ai. He 
must find out who had done wrong and punish him 
before the people could hope to conquer their ene¬ 
mies. Then the Lord told Joshua to have all the 
people march by tribes, then by households, then 
by man and man, and he would show him the 
guilty one. 

So they marched before Joshua, and first a tribe 
was marked by the Lord, then a household was 
marked, and finally a man named Achan was marked 
as guilty of sin. “My son, tell me now what you 
have done, and hide it not from me,” Joshua said 
to Achan. 

Achan told him that he saw among the spoils of 
Jericho a goodly Babylonish garment, and two 
hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold and 
he wanted them. So he took them for himself and 
hid them in his tent with some silver also, instead 
of bringing them into the treasury of the Lord. 

Joshua hastened to send messengers to the tent 
of Achan, who searched his tent and found the spoils 
and the silver. They took all they found and brought 
it to Joshua, who laid it before the people of Israel. 
Achan stood before them and confessed to the crime 
of stealing that which belonged to the Lord. 

Then Joshua and the people of Israel took Achan 
and all his family, and all his property and carried 




THE CAPTURE OF AI 


137 


them to the valley of Achor. There they stoned 
them with stones and burned them with fire. After¬ 
wards they raised a great heap of stones over the 
dead bodies to let the people know that the Lord 
would punish those who disobeyed him. 

Then the Lord told Joshua: “Fear not; take all 
the people of war with you and go against Ai. I 
have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his 
people and his city and his land/’ Joshua then 
chose thirty thousand men and sent them away 
by night, and told them to lie in wait behind the 
city but not very far and be ready when he needed 
them. So the thirty thousand men went and hid in 
ambush behind the city of Ai. 

Joshua took other soldiers with him in the morn¬ 
ing and came near Ai and left five thousand in 
another ambush before the city. Then he approached 
the city with a few men, and the king of Ai came 
out with his soldiers to give battle. Joshua made 
as if he were beaten and fled before the soldiers of 
Ai, and all the people of Ai and the soldiers of Ai 
pursued them until there was not a soul left in 
the city. 

Then Joshua turned and stretched out his hand 
as the Lord commanded him, and the ambush arose 
behind the city and on one side of the city, and the 
great army of Israel rushed into Ai and set fire to it. 





138 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Then the soldiers that were with Joshua turned and 

t 

caught the men of Ai between the burning city and 
themselves. Other soldiers of Israel came from be¬ 
hind and from one side until the men of Ai were 
surrounded and could not escape. They were slain, 
every man of them, except the king of Ai, who was 
captured alive and brought to Joshua. Joshua after¬ 
wards had him hanged on a tree and his body cov¬ 
ered with a great heap of stones at the gate of the 
city, which had been destroyed by fire. 

JOSHUA CONTINUES THE CONQUEST OF 

CANAAN 

All the kings gathered together with one accord 
to make war on Joshua. The inhabitants of Gibeon, 
however, did not wish to make war but wanted to 
make a treaty of peace. Therefore, they sent mes¬ 
sengers to Joshua, who took old sacks upon the 
backs of their asses, and old wine bottles, and old 
shoes on their feet, and worn out clothes, and all 
the bread they brought was dry and mouldy. 

When they came to Joshua they said to him: 
“ We are come from a far country, for we have heard 
of your God, and all the things He has done for you. 
When we left our country our bread was good, and 
our clothes were new and our shoes were not worn, 




JOSHUA CONTINUES CONQUEST OF CANAAN 139 

but now the bread is dry and our clothes and shoes 
are worn and the wine bottles are broken because 
of the long journey. We beseech you to make a 
covenant with us and our people.” 

Then Joshua made a league with them to let 
* them live, and the princes of the people also swore 
to keep the league. After three days they heard 
that these men had not come from a long distance, 
but were from Gibeon and belonged to those wicked 
tribes that Joshua had been commanded to destroy. 

Joshua would not break the league he had made 
with the men of Gibeon and destroy them, but he 
said that when this city was overcome, they should 
be bondsmen or slaves and should work for the 
priests in carrying water and cutting wood and 
doing other things for the tabernacle. 

When the king of Jerusalem heard of all that had 
happened he called four other kings and went with 
their soldiers to the city of Gibeon, resolved to cap¬ 
ture that city and destroy all the people. The men 
of Gibeon sent word to Joshua: “Come to us quickly 
and save us and help us for all the kings of the 
Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered 
together against us.” 

Joshua hastened to Gibeon to help the people 
with whom he had made a league of peace. A great 
battle was fought in which five kings and their 




140 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


soldiers were put to flight. As they fled great hail¬ 
stones fell from the heavens and killed more men than 
were slain by the swords of the people of Israel. 

While the soldiers of Joshua were pursuing the 
enemy, the sun was going down and darkness was 
coming on. It seemed that the Amorites would 
escape the men of Israel. Therefore, Joshua raised 
his hand towards the heavens and cried out: “Sun, 
stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in 
the valley of Ajalon.” And the sun stood still and 
the moon stayed until the people avenged them¬ 
selves upon their enemies. Then Joshua returned 
to the camp at Gilgal, while the five kings fled and 
hid in a cave at Makkedah. 

It was told Joshua: “The five kings are found hid 
in a cave at Makkedah.” And Joshua replied: “Roll 
great stones upon the mouth of the cave and set 
men by it to keep them.” And so it was done. 

After all the people of Israel had returned from 
the slaughter of their enemies, Joshua said: “Open 
the mouth of the cave and bring out those five 
kings unto me.” And his men opened the cave and 
brought forth the five kings. Joshua then ordered 
his captains to put their feet upon the necks of the 
kings, and the captains came and did as Joshua 
told them. Then Joshua said in the hearing of all 
the people: “Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong 




JOSHUA CONTINUES CONQUEST OF CANAAN 141 


and of good courage, for thus shall the Lord do to 
all your enemies against whom you fight/’ 

Then Joshua smote the five kings, and slew them 
and hanged their bodies on five trees and let them 
stay there until the evening. When the sun went 
' down the bodies of the five kings were taken down 
and cast into the cave where they had hid, and 
great stones were placed before the mouth so that 
the people might not even give their kings any other 
place of burial. 

Joshua fought other battles against the kings of 
Canaan for there was much land and many cities 
to conquer. Each king ruled over a single city or 
else a small portion of land. 

At last the people came to Shiloh and set up the 
tabernacle there. They had carried it all the way 
from Sinai, taking it down when they moved and 
putting it up again when they stopped. But now 
they were in Canaan and their long wanderings were 
over. So the tabernacle was set up in Shiloh to stay, 
for the Lord had chosen that place for it. 

Joshua now asked the people to choose three men 
from each tribe that was to live in the land of Can¬ 
aan . When the men were chosen he sent them as spies 
throughout all the land that had not yet been taken. 
He ordered them to write down in a book all that 
that they saw and afterwards to return to him in Shiloh. 




142 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


The men went on their mission as Joshua ordered 
them, and explored every part of the land, and wrote 
down in a book a description of it. They then 
brought the book to Joshua. After this Joshua 
divided the land into parts and each tribe drew 
by lot the portion which it was to have. 

The Levites were given forty-eight cities for them¬ 
selves and their families. Six cities were also chosen 
to be cities of refuge where any person might fly for 
safety in case he had killed another by accident. 
Then Joshua told the people to drive the heathen 
out of their lands and go up and possess it, for the 
Lord had promised it to them and w T ould help them 
conquer their enemies. 

The time had now come for Joshua to die. He 
called all the elders and leaders of the people of 
Israel to him and exhorted them again to live in 
the fear and obedience of the Lord. He reminded 
them of how the Lord had driven their enemies 
before them, and given them cities and fields and 
vineyards for their own. He told them the heathen 
worshiped idols and that they must not be led 
astray into the worship of these false gods, for if 
they did the Lord would surely punish them. 

He said to the people: “Choose you this day 
whom you will serve, whether the gods which your 
fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, 




GIDEON IS GIVEN A SIGN 


143 


or the gods of the Ammonites in whose land ye dwell; 
but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 

All the people answered with a loud voice: “God 
forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve 
other gods.” Then Joshua took a great stone and 
. set it by an oak that stood near the tabernacle, 
and told the people it should be a witness to remind 
them of the promise they had made to serve the 
Lord. Then the people departed every man to his 
own home. 

Joshua was a hundred and ten years old, and he 
died. They buried him on the borders of his own 
inheritance, the land that had been given him, on 
the north side of the hill of Gaash. The bones of 
Joseph which the people had brought out of Egypt 
were buried in Shechem, in the very land where 
Joseph when a boy, and "wearing his coat of many 
colors, had gone to find his brethren. 

GIDEON IS GIVEN A SIGN 

When Joshua was dead the people of Israel went 
out to war with their enemies, and the Lord gave 
them many victories. They did not drive out the 
Canaanites from all their cities, however, but al¬ 
lowed some of them to live in the land. In fact they 
mingled with the heathen people, and even married 




144 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


among them. The men of Israel married heathen 

women, and the women of Israel married heathen 

# 

men. In this they disobeyed the Lord and came to 
grief as he had told them they would. 

In many cases the people began to worship the 
heathen gods, Baal and Ashtaroth. When they did 
this the Lord sent enemies to fight against them, 
and overcome them and treat them as captives and 
servants. Thus Israel went on in the land of Ca¬ 
naan for three hundred years, sometimes sinning 
and then repenting, sometimes victorious over their 
enemies and sometimes being conquered by them. 
Often the Lord punished them for their sins, and 
then always forgave them when they repented and 
turned again to him and to his worship. 

One time when the people had behaved wickedly 
and had displeased God, the Midianites arose against 
them and made servants of them and treated them 
very harshly. They even drove the people from 
their cities and their homes so that they had to live 
in dens and caves in the mountains. 

The Midianites destroyed all the growing crops 
of the Israelites, or took away that which was ripe. 
They seized the oxen and goats and sheep so that 
nothing was left for the people to eat. The Midian¬ 
ites were as grasshoppers for multitude and 
their camels were without number. And the 




GIDEON IS GIVEN A SIGN 


145 


Israelites were distressed, and cried unto the Lord. 

There was a man of Israel named Gideon. He 
sat under an oak tree one day threshing wheat and 
hiding it from the Midianites. An angel appeared 
unto him and said to him: “The Lord is with you, 
you mighty man of valor. Go in your might and 
you shall save Israel from the hands of the Mid¬ 
ianites.” 

But Gideon was in doubt and asked the angel: 
“Wherewith shall I save Israel? My family is poor 
in Manasseh and I am the least in my father’s 
house.” 

The angel, who was the Lord himself, replied: 
“Surely I shall be with you, and you shall smite 
the Midianites as one man.” 

But Gideon wanted a sign, for he could not believe 
that he was chosen of the Lord. So he killed a kid 
and brought the flesh with some bread, and also 
some broth, and set them all before the angel as he 
stood under the oak tree. Then the angel said: 
“Take the flesh and the unleavened bread and lay 
them upon this rock and pour out the broth.” And 
Gideon did so. 

Then the angel put forth the end of his staff and 
touched the flesh and the unleavened bread and 
there rose fire out of the rock and consumed all 
the flesh and the bread. Then the angel left him, 




146 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


and Gideon built an altar there to the Lord. 

The Lord then ordered Gideon to throw down 
the altar of Baal and cut down the grove that was 
near it. Gideon took ten men and did as the Lord 
told him. Then the Lord directed Gideon to build 
an altar unto Him and offer burnt offerings upon it, 
and use the wood of the grove he had cut down. 
And Gideon did that also. 

When the Midianites saw what Gideon had done 
they were very angry and asked: “Who has done 
this thing?” When they found out that Gideon had 
done it they wanted him put to death, but the 
Lord had other purpose for Gideon, and the people 
refused to deliver him into the hands of the 
Midianites. 

The army of the Midianites came down against 
Israel and 3amped in a valley near them. Then Gid¬ 
eon asked the Lord to give him another sign to show 
that he would help him against the Midianites. 
Gideon said to the Lord: “I will put a fleece of wool 
on the floor. If the dew be on the fleece only and if 
it be dry upon the earth beside it, then shall I know 
that you will save Israel.” 

In the morning when Gideon arose and took the 
fleece in his hand it was wet with dew, so much so 
that he wrung a bowl full of water from it, and the 
ground all around the fleece was dry. Gideon again 





GIDEON OVERCOMES THE MIDIANITES 147 


said to the Lord: “I will put a fleece of wool on the 
floor. If the fleece be dry and the dew be upon the 
ground only, then I shall know that You will save 
Israel.” 

In the morning Gideon arose and took the fleece 
in his hand and it was dry, and all the ground was 
wet around it. By this Gideon knew that he would 
overcome the enemies of Israel. 


GIDEON OVERCOMES THE MIDIANITES 

The Lord said unto Gideon: “The people that 
are with you are too many for me to give the Mid- 
ianites into their hands. Israel will boast that they 
saved themselves. Now, therefore, let all who are 
afraid depart to their homes.” When Gideon told 
the people this, twenty-two thousand of them left, 
and ten thousand stayed with Gideon to fight the 
Midianites. 

“The people are yet too many,” said the Lord to 
Gideon. “Bring them down unto the water, and 
every one that laps water with his tongue like a 
dog you shall set to one side, and every one that 
kneels down to drink you shall set to one side.” 
Gideon did as the Lord told him and found that three 
hundred men put their hands to their mouths to 




148 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


drink water and lapped it as dogs do, but all the 
rest knelt down to drink. 

“By the three hundred that lapped the water 
will I save you and deliver the Midianites into your 
hands. All the others may go, every man to his 
own home,” commanded the Lord. 

Gideon took the three hundred away, and gave 
them food and trumpets and sent all the others 
away. And the hosts of the Midianites were en¬ 
camped in the valley. They were in numbers like a 
cloud of grasshoppers, and their camels were many. 

Gideon went down into the valle}^ with his ser¬ 
vant to hear what the Midianites said and he came 
near to the camp. When he had come near, there 
was a man of the Midianites who told his dream to 
his fellow. He said: “I dreamed a dream, and a 
loaf of barley bread tumbled into the hosts of Mid- 
ian and came unto a tent, and smote it, so that it 
fell along the ground.” And the fellow replied to 
the dreamer: “This is nothing else than the sword 
of Gideon, for into his hand has God delivered 
Midian and all his hosts.” 

Gideon returned to his men at once and called 
to them: “Arise for the Lord has delivered into 
your hand the host of Midian.” And he divided the 
three hundred men into three companies, and he 
put a trumpet in each man's hand, and an 





GIDEON OVERCOMES THE MIDIANITES 149 


empty pitcher, with a lamp in each pitcher. 

He then told his men: “Watch me and do as I 
do. When I come to the outside of the camp and 
blow my trumpet then shall each of you blow your 
trumpet and cry aloud, The sword of the Lord and 
of Gideon.” 

Gideon and the three hundred men came to the 
outside of the camp in the middle of the night, and 
the Midianites did not know they were anywhere 
near. Then Gideon blew his trumpet, and all the 
three hundred men blew their trumpets, and broke 
their pitchers, and held aloft the lamps in their left 

f 

hands while they held the trumpets in their right 
hands. 

They made a tremendous noise, with their trump¬ 
ets and shouting, and their lamps looked like the 
oncoming of a great host of soldiers. The Midian¬ 
ites were overcome with fear. They ran from their 
tents and fled in great haste. In the confusion they 
began to slay one another not knowing who were 
their enemies. They fought among themselves 
throughout the host, and continued to flee as long 
as they heard the trumpets and the shoutings of 
Israel. 

The hosts of Israel gathered for the pursuit and 
followed the Midianites to the River Jordan. They 
took two kings captive and slew them and brought 





150 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


their heads to Gideon. Thus were the Midianites 
overthrown and the children of Israel had to serve 
them no longer. 

Gideon went again to his own home and lived to 
a good old age. When he died he was buried in the 
sepulchre of his father, and forever after the people 
of Israel told their children the story of how he and 
his three hundred men put to flight the great hosts 
of Midian. 

THE PUNISHMENT OF ABIMELECH 

After Gideon was dead, the people of Israel turned 
again to the worship of strange gods, and bowed 
down to Baal and the idols of Canaan. Now, Gid¬ 
eon had seventy sons, and one of these was Abime- 
lech. He was a wicked and ambitious man who 
plotted much mischief against his brothers, in order 
to make himself king. 

He went to Shechem and spoke to his mother's 
people saying: “Is it better for you that all the sons 
of Gideon which are seventy in number rule over 
you, or that one reign over you? Remember I am 
your bone and your flesh.” The people of Shechem 
inclined their hearts towards Abimelech and agreed 
to make him king, and gave him money and hired 
men to follow him in his wicked purpose. 




THE PUNISHMENT OF ABIMELECH 151 

Abimelech and his hired men went to Ophrah, 
where his brethren lived, and fell upon them and 
slew them all upon one stone, except the youngest 
son, who hid himself from his brother. Thus did 
Abimelech begin his wicked career with the foul 
murder of his brothers. Then the men of Shechem 
made Abimelech king, and all the people shouted 
and for a time forgot the crimes of which he was 
guilty. 

But Jotham who was the youngest brother and 
had escaped by hiding himself, came before the 
people of Shechem and told them a parable. 

He said: “The trees went forth on a time to select 
a king and said to the olive tree, Come and reign 
over us. But the olive tree refused to leave its fat¬ 
ness to become king over the trees. The trees said to 
the fig tree, Come and reign over us. But the fig 
tree refused to leave its sweetness and its good fruit 
to become king over the trees. 

“Then the trees said to the vine, Come and reign 
over us. But the vine refused to leave its wine, 
which cheered man, to become king over the trees. 

“Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come 
and reign over us. And the bramble said, Come 
and put your trust in my shadow: if not, let fire 
come out of the bramdle and consume the cedars 
of Lebanon.” 




152 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


In this way Jotham warned the people of Israel 
against Abimelech, and then he fled and hid him¬ 
self for fear of his brother. And after three years 
the warning came true, for God sent an evil spirit 
between Abimelech and the people of Shechem and 
they began to deal treacherously with their king. 

They said one to another: “This man Abimelech 
slew his brethren and persuaded us to help him. 
Now their blood is upon us and we should be rid 
of so vile a man, even if he is our king.” And they 
set watch on the road by which Abimelech was 
accustomed to go that they might slay him, and 
they robbed all who came that way. 

When Zebul, the ruler of the city, who was a 
friend of the king, heard what the people were say¬ 
ing he was angry and sent word to Abimelech that 
the people were rising up against him. He then said: 
“In the morning as soon as the sun is up, rise early 
and set upon the city and do unto the people of 
Shechem whatever you will.” So Abimelech divided 
his men into four companies and came by night and 
laid in wait against the city of Shechem. 

In the morning Zebul went to the gates of the 
city with the leader of the people of Shechem whose 
name was Gaal, and the leader said: “Behold, 
there come people down from the top of the 
mountain.” But Zebul answered him: “You see the 




THE PUNISHMENT OF ABIMELECH 


153 


shadow of the mountain, as if it were men.” 

Gaal looked close and saw the hosts of Abime- 
lech coming down the middle of the land, and 
another company coming along the plain. Then 
Gaal went out with the men of Shechem and fought 
' Abimelech, but Abimelech chased him and he fled 
back into the city leaving many of his men dead 
and wounded. 

The next day Gaal and his men came out again 
to give battle to Abimelech, and again Abimelech 
rose up and smote them. The armies fought all day, 
but Abimelech took the city, slew the people that 
were in it, beat down the houses and sowed salt in 
the streets. Some of the men escaped, however, 
and hid themselves in the house of their idol and 
where they thought Abimelech could not reach them. 

Abimelech then went up into a mountain with all 
his people. He took an axe and cut a bough from a 
tree and laid it on his shoulders. He said to his 
men: “What you have seen me do, make haste 
and do as I have done.” And all the men took axes 
and cut boughs and laid them upon their shoulders. 

They then marched with Abimelech to the towns 
where the people of Shechem had hid themselves 
and piled the boughs by the tower and set fire to 
the boughs. And the people of Shechem, about a 
thousand men and women were burned in the fire. 




154 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Abimelech then marched against another city, 
named Thebez, and captured that also. There was a 
strong tower in the city where all the people fled and 
shut themselves up, and some stood on the top of the 
tower. Abimelech came to the tower and fought against 
it, and tried to burn the door of the tower with fire. 

Now, there was a woman upon the top of the 
tower, who watched Abimelech pass beneath her. 
She took a large piece of stone in her hand and 
dropped it upon the head of Abimelech and it broke 
his skull, so that he fell down before the tower. 

Abimelech knew he was about to die and called 
his armor bearer and said to him: “Draw your 
sword quickly and slay me so that men may not 
say a woman slew him/ 7 And the armor bearer 
drew his sword and thrust it through the body of 
Abimelech and slew him in the street before the 
tower where he fell. Then the people of Israel 
departed every man to his own home. 

Thus God punished the wickedness of Abimelech 
for the murder of his brothers, and for all the evil 
he did to the people of Shechem. 

JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER 

About forty-five years passed after the death of 
Abimelech and again the people of Israel did evil 




JEPHTHAH’S DAUGHTER 


155 


in the sight of the Lord. They went after the hea¬ 
then gods, Baal and Ashtaroth, and all the gods of 
the heathen people, and worshiped them. The 
Lord was angry with the people of Israel for doing 
this and allowed the Philistines and the Amorites 
to overcome them and make slaves of them. 

Now their lives were hard indeed, for the heathen 
oppressed them sorely. The children of Israel cried 
out to the Lord: “We have sinned against Thee, 
both because we have forsaken Thee and have served 
Baal.” The Lord told the people that He would 
deliver them no more from the hands of their ene¬ 
mies for as often as He forgave them they returned 
to their sins and to the worship of strange gods. 

The Lord said to them: “Go, cry unto the gods 
you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time 
of your tribulation.” The people told the Lord 
they had sinned and prayed Him to deliver them 
from their slavery to the Amorites. Then they put 
away their strange gods and began again to serve 
the Lord. When the people had, returned to His 
worship, the Lord was no longer angry, but was 
sorry for the misery of His people. 

The Amorites gathered together and were camped * 
in Gilead, on the other side of Jordan. The children 
of Israel also gathered together and made their 
camp at Mizpeh. But the people of Israel had no 




156 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


man to lead them, so they asked one of another: 
“ Where is the man that shall lead us in the fight 
against the Amorites? He shall be ruler over the 
people of Gilead.’’ 

There was a man of Israel named Jephthah, a 
mighty man of valor. One time his brothers were 
angry with him, and drove him away from his home, 
so that he fled and lived in the land of Tob, and 
the people almost forgot that he was one of them. 

Now the Amorites had come down to war with 
the children of Israel and the children of Israel were 
resolved no longer to be slaves of the Amorites and 
had gathered together and were in sore need of a 
leader, the elders of the people remembered Jephthah. 
They recalled that he was a mighty man of valor, 
and was living over in the land of Tob. So the 
elders went over to the land of Tob to bring Jephthah 
back to his own people. They came to him and 
said: “ Jephthah, come and be our captain, that we 
may fight with the children of Ammon.” 

“Did you not hate me and expel me from my 
father’s house? Why have you come to see me 
now in your distress?” asked Jephthah. 

The elders begged him to come back to his people 
for they needed him. They told him how the Amor¬ 
ites had treated his people and how they were now 
encamped for their destruction. 




JEPHTHAH’S DAUGHTER 


157 


Jephthah asked them: “If I go again to my people 
and fight against the children of Ammon, and the 
Lord deliver them into my hand, shall I be your 
head?” And the elders promised that Jephthah 
should be ruler over them. 

Jephthah went with the elders and the people 
made him captain and ruler over them. Jephthah 
sent messengers to the king of the Amorites saying: 
“Why have you come to fight against the children 
of Israel?” 

To this the king replied: “Because Israel took 
away our lands, when they came out of Egypt. 
Now restore those lands peaceably and there shall 
be no war.” 

Jephthah sent other messengers, saying that the 
land had been given them by the Lord, and belonged 
as much to Israel as it did to the Amorites, and that 
Israel was not going to give up the land to the ene¬ 
mies of the Lord. He said: “The Lord be judge 
this day between the children of Israel and the 
children of Ammon.” 

Jephthah assembled his men and came to the place 
where the Amorites had made their camp. Jephthah 
prayed to the Lord and said: “If Thou shalt deliver 
the children of Ammon into my hands, then what¬ 
soever comes out of the door of my house to greet 
me when I return from the victory over the Amor- 




158 _ HEROES OF ISRAEL _ 

ites, shall surely be the Lord’s and I will offer it as 
a burnt offering.” 

There was a great battle and Jephthah smote the 
Amorites with a great slaughter. The rest fled be¬ 
fore him until they were scattered far and wide over 
the face of the earth. Then Jephthah turned towards 
his own house at Mizpeh with all the people shout¬ 
ing and blowing their trumpets for joy that their 
enemies had been overcome. 

Jephthah came near his own home, little knowing 
what was coming out to meet him. His heart was 
glad that he had been given the victory and in his 
mouth was a song of rejoicing. Just then the door 
opened and out ran his daughter, dancing before 
him and beating timbrels with her hands. She was 
his only child and he loved her dearly. 

Jephthah cried aloud in great agony: “Oh, my 
daughter! You have brought me a great grief. My 
heart is bowed with sorrow. I have vowed to the 
Lord that I would offer as a burnt offering whatso¬ 
ever came first to meet me from my house, and 
behold, it is my only child, my beloved daughter!” 
And Jephthah bowed to the ground and wept. 

“My father, let it be done as you have promised 
the Lord,” his daughter replied, “but let me go for 
two months into the mountains with my compan¬ 
ions that I may prepare for the sacrifice.” And 





THE YOUNG SAMSON 


159 


Jephthah sent her and her companions into the 
mountains and there she stayed for two months. 

At the end of that time she came back to her 
father, and was offered as a burnt offering to the 
Lord, but the people wept before the sacrifice and 
set apart four days in every year to lament the fate 
of the daughter of Jephthah. 

THE YOUNG SAMSON 

The people of Israel had been in bondage to the 
Philistines for forty years, because they had done 
evil in the sight of the Lord. They were compelled 
to work for the Philistines as though they were 
slaves, and their lives were very hard and miserable. 

There was a man of Israel named Manoah, who 
feared God and served Him. He and his wife had 
no children and for that they were greatly distressed. 
One day an angel in the appearance of a man came 
to the woman and told her she would have a son, 
and that she must never cut his hair, and never let 
him drink strong drink nor eat any unclean meat. 
He was to be a Nazarite, which meant that he was 
set apart for the service of God. 

The woman ran to her husband and said to him: 
“A man of God has appeared to me, and his face 
was like the face of an angel. He would not tell me 




160 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


his name, nor tell me whence he came. But he 
promised me a son, who was to be a Nazarite, and 
who would deliver Israel out of the hands of the 
Philistines.” 

Then Manoah prayed to the Lord to let the man 
appear again to them and teach them what to do 
with the child that was to be born. One day the 
woman was in the field by herself and the angel 
in the appearance of a man came again and stood 
by her. Then she ran quickly and called her hus¬ 
band and together they came to the place where 
the man was. 

Manoah then said to the man: “Are you the man 
that spoke to my wife and promised her a son?” 
And the man said he was. Then he told Manoah 
not to let his wife drink wine or any strong drink 
or eat any unclean thing, for her son was to be a 
mighty man and would deliver Israel from the 
hands of the Philistines. 

Manoah begged the man to wait while he went 
to kill a kid and dress it and prepare food for him. 
But the man said: “I will not eat of your bread, nor 
of your meat. If you make an offering it must be 
to the Lord.” Manoah did not know that the man 
was an angel of the Lord. 

Manoah then said to the angel: “Tell us your 
name so that when our child is born we may do 





THE YOUNG SAMSON 


161 


you honor/' But the angel would not tell his name, 
declaring it was a secret. So Manoah ran quickly 
and killed a kid and offered it as an offering upon 
the rock near where the angel stood. 

When the flame of the offering ascended toward 
heaven the angel went into the flame and disap¬ 
peared from Manoah and his wife. When they be¬ 
held this strange sight they fell on their faces, for 
they knew the man was no other than an angel of 
the Lord. Then they arose and went to their house 
for they knew the Lord had blessed them and their 
prayers would be answered. 

After a while a child was born, and they named 
him Samson. The boy grew to be a man and the 
Lord blessed him as he grew. 

Wlien Samson became a man he went down to 
Timnath and saw a woman of the Philistines who 
pleased him greatly. When he came back he told 
his father: “I have seen a woman in Timnath, one 
of the Philistines; I pray you get her for my wife.” 

But his father answered: “Is there not a woman 
among the daughters of your brethren, or among my 
people, that you should go to the Philistines for a wife?” 

Samson replied fiercely: “Get her for me, for she 
pleases me well!” And with that his father had to 
be content, for the matter was of the Lord and his 
father knew it not. 




162 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Then Samson with his father and mother went 
down to Timnath and came near the vineyards, and 
as they went a lion roared in the path before them. 
Samson sprang upon the lion and with his bare 
hands tore him to pieces as he would a kid, for 
Samson was by now a man of mighty strength. 
But his father and mother did not see him 
kill the lion and he said nothing to them 
about it. 

They went on to Timnath and talked with the 
woman. She still pleased Samson, and he wanted 
her for his wife. After a short time he came back 
to Timnath to see her again, and turned aside to 
see the carcass of the lion he had slain. It still lay 
by the side of the road, but the bees had made a 
hive in the body of the lion and it was full of honey. 
Samson took some of the honey in his hands and 
ate it, and brought some to his father and mother 
and they ate it, but Samson did not tell them where 
he had gotten his honey. 

His father went down with Samson again to see 
the woman that his son was going to marry and they 
made a great feast for her and for thirty of the men 
of the Philistines. Samson said to them: “I will 
now put forth a riddle for you. If you can answer 
it in seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty 
sheets and thirty changes of garments. If you can- 




THE YOUNG SAMSON 


163 


not answer it you shall give me thirty sheets and 
thirty changes of garments/’ 

The men answered him: “Put forth your riddle, 
that we may hear it.” 

Then Samson stood up before them and said: 
“Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the 
strong came forth sweetness.” And for three days 
the thirty men could not guess what was the 
meaning of the riddle that Samson had put to 
them. 

Seeing they could not guess the riddle the men 
went to Samson’s wife and said to her: “Persuade 
Samson to tell you the answer to the riddle. If you 
do not we shall burn you and your father’s house 
with fire.” 

Then the wife of Samson cried, and begged him 
to tell her the answer to the riddle, for she was 
afraid of the men who had threatened her life. She 
said to Samson: “You do not love me, for you have 
put forth a riddle to my people and would not even 
tell me the answer of it.” And she kept on crying 
and weeping before him. 

“I have not told it to my father, nor to my 
mother. Why should I tell it to you?” Samson 
replied. But she cried all the more until Samson 
was so tired of her that he told her the riddle and 
she went and told it to the men of the Philistines. 




164 HEROES OF ISRAEL 

Then on the seventh day, before the sun went 
down, the men said to Samson: “What is sweeter 
than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?” 
And by that Samson knew his wife had betrayed 
him and told the secret of the riddle to the men of 
her people. And Samson was very angry with her 
and with the Philistines. 

In order to pay the wager he had lost, he went 
down to Ashkelon and slew thirty men of the Phil¬ 
istines and took their spoil and changes of garments 
and gave them to the men who had guessed the riddle. 
Then in his anger he went back to his father’s 
house and left his Philistine wife with her people. 

SAMSON AND THE PHILISTINES 

After a while Samson longed to see his wife again, 
so he went down to visit her and took with him a 
kid for a present. When he came to her father’s 
house, her father said to Samson: “I thought you 
utterly hated her for what she had done, and I 
gave her to be the wife of another man. But her 
younger sister is here and fairer than she; take her 
I pray you, instead of the one you had chosen.” 

Samson was indeed very angry at this treatment, 
and went out into the fields and caught three hun¬ 
dred foxes, and tied blazing pieces of wood to their 




_ SAMSON AND THE PHILISTINES 165 

tails. Then he turned them loose, so that they ran 
into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt 
the corn and the shucks, and also the vineyards and 
the olive trees. 

The Philistines saw the disaster to their crops 
and said: “Who has done this?” Some one an¬ 
swered them: “Samson, the son-in-law of the Tim- 
nite, has done this, because his wife has been given 
to another man.” Whereupon the Philistines rushed 
upon the house of the Timnite and burnt the wife 
of Samson and her father with fire. 

Samson was overcome with rage and grief when 
he heard what had been done, and being a man 
of mighty power, he smote the Philistines with a 
great slaughter, and then went to live on the top 
of a rock, named Etam. 

The Philistines came up and pitched their camp 
in the land of Israel. The men of Israel said: “Why 
have you come up against us?” And the 
Philistines answered: “We have come up to 
bind Samson, and to do to him as he has done 
to us.” 

The three thousand men of Israel went to the 
rock of Etam, where Samson was living, and said 
to him: “Do you not know that the Philistines are 
rulers over us, and what is this that you have done, 
that they come here to bind you?” 






166 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Samson replied: “I but did to them what they 
did to me. I slew many of them for they burned 
my wife and her father and his house/’ 

But the men of Israel were afraid of the Philis¬ 
tines and told Samson: “We have come to bind 
you and deliver you into the hands of the Philis¬ 
tines.” And Samson let them bind him with two 
new cords and they brought him from the rock 
Etam and to the camp of the Philistines. 

When the Philistines caught sight of Samson 
bound with cords they shouted with a great noise 
and rushed upon him. But Samson only waited 
until they came near, then he stretched forth his 
great arms and broke the cords that bound him as 
though they were flax that had been burnt with 
fire, and his limbs were free. 

Then he found the jawbone of an ass, and put 
forth his hands and took it and slew a thousand 
men of the Philistines, until they were piled up 
heaps upon heaps. Then he threw away the jaw¬ 
bone out of his hands, and was thirsty and weak. 
Whereupon the Lord opened a spring, and water 
flowed abundantly, and Samson drank until his 
thirst was relieved and his strength came back to him. 

Then Samson became a judge and judged Israel 
for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. 
Samson went down to a place named Gaza and 




THE DEATH OF SAMSON 


167 


went into a house there to spend the night. 
The Philistines lived in Gaza and some one told 
them: “Samson has come here and abideth the 
night in a certain house. ” Whereupon they sur¬ 
rounded the house, and lay in wait all night at 
the gate of the city saying: “In the morning when 
it is day, we shall kill him.” 

At midnight Samson arose, and pushing aside 
those who had surrounded his house, came to the 
gates of the city and found them closed and locked. 
But with his great strength he dragged up the 
posts of the gates and took the gates themselves 
upon his shoulders, bars and all, and carried them 
to the top of a hill afar off. 

THE DEATH OF SAMSON 

Samson was a Nazarite, as we have already 
learned, and Nazarites never cut their hair. Sam¬ 
son’s hair was thick and long, and hung down over 
his shoulders, but he alone knew that in his long 
hair lay his great strength and without it he would 
be weak as other men. So long as he obeyed the 
Lord and kept his hair uncut, so long would his 
strength remain with him. 

It came to pass that Samson loved a woman whose 
name was Delilah. When the lords of the Philistines 




168 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


found this out they went to Delilah and said to her: 
“ Entice him, and see wherein his great strength 
lies, and by what means we may prevail against 
him. We wish to bind him and to afflict him; and 
we will give you every one of us eleven hundred 
pieces of silver.” 

Samson came to Delilah’s house, and she said to 
him: “Tell me wherein your great strength lies, and 
with what must you be bound that others may 
afflict you?” 

Samson desired to make sport of her and replied: 
“If they bind me with seven green withes that were 
never dried, then shall I be weak and be as other 
men.” Now, a withe was a kind of cord made of 
twigs or the small branches of trees, and was by 
no means strong. 

When Delilah told this to the lords of the Philis¬ 
tines, they brought her the seven withes and Sam¬ 
son let her bind him with them. The men 
were lying in wait to capture Samson, and 
when he was bound with the seven withes, 
Delilah cried out: “The Philistines be upon you, 
Samson!” 

But Samson broke the withes as though they 
were thread, and the Philistines ran away. The 
secret of his great strength was not yet known, and 
Samson laughed at them and at Delilah. 





Samson Breaks His Bonds as the Enemies are upon Him 















.... 



























































THE DEATH OF SAMSON 


169 


“You have mocked me and deceived me. Now, 
tell me, wherewith may you be bound that others 
may afflict you?” Delilah said again to Samson. 

Again Samson desired to make sport of Delilah, 
and replied to her: “If they bind me fast with new 
ropes that have never been used, then shall I be 
as weak as other men.” 

Again Delilah told the Philistines and they brought 
her new rope and Samson let himself be bound. 
There were men lying in wait as before, and Delilah 
cried out: “The Philistines be upon you, Samson!” 

But Samson broke the ropes as though they were 
threads, and the Philistines who sought to take 
him, ran away, and Samson laughed at them and at 
Delilah. The secret of his great strength was not 
yet known to his enemies. 

“Tell me, I pray you, wherewith you may be 
bound that others may afflict you?” Delilah a third 
time said to Samson. 

Then Samson told her to weave his long hair 
into plaits and fasten them with a pin and he would 
be as weak as other men. Delilah did this also and 
again called out: “The Philistines be upon you, 
Samson!” But again Samson chased them away 
and kept the secret of his great strength. 

Delilah was not to be put off by what Samson 
had told her and kept on asking him wherein his 




170 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


strength lay. Every day she begged him to tell 
her. At last he was worn out by her questions and 
reproaches and finally told her: “If I be shaven and 
my hair cut, and I be no longer a Nazarite then, 
indeed, shall I be weak as other men.” 

Delilah hastened to tell the lords of the Philis¬ 
tines what Samson had confessed to her. She said 
to them: “Come up at once, for he has showed me 
his heart.” And they came and brought the money 
they had promised to give her. 

Samson went to sleep upon the knees of Delilah, 
thinking no harm could come to him. His long 
hair fell to his feet and she ran her fingers through 
it, knowing now she had the secret of his great 
strength. She called for a man, and caused the 
locks to be cut from his head until they lay in great 
piles upon the floor. Then Samson awoke and Delilah 
cried out: ‘ ‘ The Philistines be upon you, Samson! J ' 

Then came the lords of the Philistines and bound 
him, for he was weak as other men. They put out 
his eyes and took him to Gaza and made him grind 
corn in the prison in that place. His enemies mocked 
him as he worked at the wheel, and said: “Where 
now is your mighty power, and where is your Lord 
that gave you such strength to slay a thousand Phil¬ 
istines?” But Samson uttered no word, and ground 
the corn in the prison house of Gaza. 





THE DEATH OF SAMSON 


171 


But the hair of Samson had grown out again and 
no one thought to cut it off. And as it grew’ his 
strength came back to him, and he was again the 
mighty man, though the Philistines did not know it. 

One time the lords of the Philistines gathered 
Together to make a great sacrifice to their heathen 
god Dagon, and to rejoice, for they said: “Our god 
has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands. 
He no longer is a mighty man and we are avenged 
of his slaying the Philistines.” And they sent to 
the prison that the blind Samson might be brought 
into the temple of the heathen god, and that they 
might make sport of him. 

Samson came in, and they set him between the 
pillars of the temples and they began to make sport 
of him. Then Samson said to the lad that held him 
by the hand: “Let me feel the pillars whereon the 
house stands that I may lean upon them.” And 
the lad led him to the great pillars that held up the 
house. 

The house was full of men and women, and all 
the lords of the Philistines were there, and upon 
the roof there were three thousand men and women, 
and they all made sport of Samson. Then Samson 
prayed to the Lord: “0, Lord, remember me and 
strengthen me, only this once, that I may be avenged 
of the Philistines for my two eyes.” 




172 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars 
upon which the house stood, and said: “Let me die 
with the Philistines /’ And he bowed himself with 
all his might, and wrapped his great arms about 
the pillars, and broke them from their bases until 
they came down before him. And the house fell 
upon the lords, and upon Samson, and upon all the 
people that were in it, so that the dead which he 
slew at his death were more than they which he 
slew in his life. 

His brethren and all his household came down 
and took his body and buried it in the burial place 
of his father, Manoah. 

NAOMI AND RUTH 

In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, there 
was a famine in the land. A certain man who lived 
in Bethlehem went down with his wife and his two 
sons to the country of Moab, where there was food 
to be found. The name of the man was Elimelech, 
and the name of his wife was Naomi. 

Soon after reaching the country of Moab, Elime¬ 
lech died and Naomi was left with her two sons. 
These sons married two women of Moab. The 
name of one was Orpah, the name of the other was 
Ruth. And they dwelled in the land of Moab for 




NAOMI AND RUTH 


173 


about ten years. Then the sons died, and Naomi 
was left with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and 

Ruth. 

Naomi had heard that bread was to be had in 
the land of her own people, and so she arose with 
. her two daughters-in-law to leave the country of 
Moab and to return to Judah and to her own 
people. 

When they had started on their way, Naomi said 
to her two daughters-in-law: “Go, return each of 
you to your mother’s house. You need not follow 
me if you do not desire. The Lord deal kindly with 
you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 
The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you, 
in the house of a husband.” 

Then Naomi kissed Orpah and Ruth, and they 
wept upon the shoulders of their mother-in-law, for 
they loved her, and remembered the many years 
they were happy together in the land of Moab. 
The two young women said to Naomi: “Surely, we 
will return with you unto the land of your 
people.” 

Naomi said to them: “Why will you go with me? 
I pray that you leave me in my age to return to my 
kind and kin, and that you find husbands among 
the men of Moab.” Then Orpah kissed Naomi, and 
weeping, turned aside to the land of her own people. 






174 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


But Ruth loved her mother-in-law more dearly 
and refused to turn back. Naomi said to her: “See, 
your sister has gone back unto her people, and unto 
her gods. Why do you not return also?” 

To this Ruth replied: “Entreat me not to leave 
you, or to return from following after you; for 
where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will 
lodge; your people shall be my people, and your 
God shall be my God. Where you die, will I die, 
and there will I be buried.” 

When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to 
follow her, she kissed her again, and left off per¬ 
suading her to return. So they went on together 
until they came to Bethlehem. When the people 
of that city saw them coming there was great ex¬ 
citement, and they asked: “Is this Naomi, who, 
for so many years has lived in the land of 
Moab?” 

But Naomi replied: “Call me not Naomi, but 
call me Mara, which means bitterness, for the Lord 
has dealt very bitterly with me in all these years. 
I went forth full of hope and joy but I return empty; 
His hand has been hard upon me and He has afflicted 
me.” 

Thus Naomi returned and Ruth, the Moabitess 
with her, and they dwelt in Bethlehem, and it was 
the beginning of the barley harvest. 





RUTH AND BOAZ 


175 


RUTH AND BOAZ 

Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty 
man of wealth, whose name was Boaz. He was the 
owner of rich fields of barley, and his reapers were 
making ready to gather in the harvest of the year. 
Ruth said to her mother-in-law: “Let me go to the 
field and glean ears of corn after the reapers.” And 
Naomi told her that she might go. 

Ruth went and gleaned in the field after the 
reapers, and it so happened that she gleaned in the 
fields that belonged to Boaz. And Boaz came out 
from Bethlehem to speak to his reapers and saw 
the young woman gathering up the leavings, and 
said to his servants: “What damsel is this?” 

The servant, wdio was set over the reapers, re¬ 
plied to his master: “It is Ruth, that came back 
with Naomi out of the country of Moab. She 
begged to gather after the reapers among the sheaves, 
and has been, here since the early morning.” 

Then Boaz said unto Ruth: “Go not to glean in 
another field, neither go from hence, but stay with 
my maidens. I shall charge the young men that 
they shall not touch you. When you are thirsty, go 
to the vessels and drink the water which the young 




176 _ HEROES OF ISRAEL _ 

men have drawn.’’ And Boaz looked kindly upon 
Ruth, for she was fair and comely. 

Ruth bowed herself before the master of the field 
and replied: “Why have I found favor in your eyes, 
seeing that I am a stranger?” 

To this Boaz answered: “I know what you have 
done for Naomi, your mother-in-law, since the 
death of your husband, and how you left your 
father and mother and the land of your people, and 
came among strangers for her sake.” And he spoke 
still more gently to her. 

He then told her to come at meal time and eat 
the bread and drink the wine that had been pre¬ 
pared for the reapers. And the reapers gave her 
parched corn and whatever else they had for them¬ 
selves, and Ruth ate and received strength. 

When she had risen from her eating, Boaz com¬ 
manded his men, saying to them: “Let her glean 
wherever she will, even among the sheaves, and 
let her take what she desires and reproach her not. 
Also let fall some of the handfuls on purpose for 
her and leave them that she may glean them.” 
And the reapers did so, and Ruth gathered in the 
grain for herself and her mother-in-law, and Boaz 
watched her as she gleaned and was pleased. 

When evening had come and the gleaning was 
over, Ruth went into the city and showed her 





RUTH AND BOAZ 


177 


mother-in-law what she had gathered. Naomi said 
to her: “Where have you gleaned today, and where 
have you worked? Surely some one must have taken 
notice of you, and given you abundantly.” And 

i 

Ruth told Naomi that she had gleaned in the field 
of Boaz, her kinsman. 

Then Ruth said to her mother-in-law: “He also 
told me to follow by his young men until they had 
ended all the harvest, and to go out with his maid¬ 
ens and to drink of the water in his vessels, and he 
was gentle to me and did give me wherewith to eat.” 

Naomi told her daughter-in-law that it was good 
for her to go out with the maidens of Boaz and to 
glean in the fields of her kinsman, and not to glean 
in any other field. So Ruth went out every day 
and gleaned the grain that the reapers left for her, 
even to the very end of the harvest, and every 
evening returned unto her mother-in-law. 

After the harvest had been gathered, Naomi told 
Ruth that Boaz was going to winnow his barley. 
Barley is a kind of grain, like wheat. After it was 
gathered from the fields it had to be threshed, which 
was to separate the grain from the straw in which 
it grew. This was done by beating the straw with 
sticks called flails. 

After the barley was threshed it had to be win¬ 
nowed, which meant that the grain had to be sep- 





178 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


arated from the small bits of straw that had been 
left in the threshing. This was done by throwing 
the grain into the air, and letting the wind carry off 
the straw while the heavier grain fell back to the 
floor. The ground where the threshing was done 
was called the threshing floor. 

Boaz was to winnow his barley the night that 
Naomi spoke to Ruth. Naomi said to her daughter- 
in-law: “Wash yourself and anoint yourself with oil 
and go down to the threshing floor, and attend Boaz, 
my kinsman.” 

Ruth did as her mother-in-law told her, and went 
to the threshing floor and waited upon Boaz. After 
the winnowing was over Boaz had a great feast, in 
which he ate and drank until he was merry. Seeing 
the woman near him he asked her: “Who are you?” 
And Ruth told him who she was, and begged him 
to be kind to her. 

Boaz was already in love with the beautiful Mo- 
abitess and told her not to fear. He said to her: 
“Fear not; I will do to you all that you ask, for all 
the people of the city of Bethlehem know that you 
are a good and gentle woman.” 

Then Boaz said to her: “Bring here the veil that 
you wear and hold it before me.” And she brought 
him her veil and he filled it with six measures of 
barley and told her to take it to her mother-in-law’. 




RUTH AND BOAZ 


179 


When Naomi saw what Boaz had done, she told 
Ruth to wait and, see what her kinsman had in 
mind. 

Soon after Boaz went and sat at the gate of the - 
city. In those days the cities of Canaan had walls 
around them to protect the people from their ene¬ 
mies, and in the walls were gates for the people to 
go in and out. At those gates sat the rulers of the 
city to judge the people, and also there were mark¬ 
ets where things were bought and sold. Indeed, 
when any man had a cause to present he went to 
the gates of the city, for many people were gath¬ 
ered there during the day. 

Boaz sat at the gate of the city and called a man 
who was nearer of kin to Naomi and Ruth than he 
himself was. He said to the man: “Naomi sells a 
parcel of land, but with it must go Ruth, her daugh¬ 
ter-in-law, according to the custom of Israel. You 
have the first right to buy the land and with it to 
take Ruth for your wife.” 

But the man said: “I cannot buy the land, nor 
take Ruth for myself. You are next kin to me; take 
the land and the woman yourself.” And with that 
Boaz was well content. So he called ten elders of 
the people and said aloud to them: 

“I have bought the land of Elimelech, that was 
Naomi’s, and I have also taken Ruth to be my 




180 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


wife.” And all the people who were at the gate 
and all the elders said: “We are witnesses.” 

So Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife, for he 
loved her. A son was born to them, which Naomi 
took care of and nursed. The child was named 
Obed, and in after years became the grandfather 
of David, of whom we shall learn later on. 

THE YOUNG SAMUEL 

There was a man of Israel whose name was El- 
kanah, and the name of his wife was Hannah. 
Hannah was old and had no children and for that 
she was grieved, for she longed for a child of her 
own. In fact, the other women made sport of her 
and made her weep because it was a kind of dis¬ 
grace in those days not to have children. 

One time, when Elkanah went up to Shiloh to 
offer sacrifices to the Lord, Hannah went with him, 
.and when the women made sport of her, Hannah, 
wept and would not eat because she was childless. 
Elkanah was sorry for his wife and grieved to see 
her distressed. So he said to her: “Hannah, why 
do you weep and why do you not eat? Am I not 
better than ten sons?” 

But Hannah continued to weep in the bitterness 
of her soul and prayed unto the Lord to give her a 




THE YOUNG SAMUEL 


181 


child. She promised the Lord that if he would 
give her a man child that she would give him unto 
the Lord all the days of his life and that his hair 
should never be cut. 

The Lord heard her prayer and after awhile she 
had a son and she named him Samuel. Thus Han¬ 
nah’s tears were changed to smiles and she was 
very happy because she had a little son whom she 
had promised to the Lord. 

Eli was the priest at the temple at Shiloh and he 
had two wicked sons named Hophni and Phinehas. 
They did great evil in the sight of the Lord and 
distressed their father because they would not obey 
him nor the words of the Lord. These sons were 
also priests as their father was. 

When any man came to the tabernacle to offer 
peace offerings it was the rule that some of the 
offering should be given to the priests to eat and 
some for the men themselves to eat. Hophni and 
Philnehas took more than their share and if the 
men who brought the offerings objected they took 
it from them by force. They did other things, also, 
that they should not have done as priests. 

Little Samuel did what was right in the sight of 
the Lord always. His mother made him a coat, and 
every year when she went up with her husband to 
offer sacrifices she took Samuel with her. When he 




182 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


became old enough to leave his mother and father 
he went to live with Eli at the tabernacle. His 
mother was very glad that she had given up her son 
entirely to the service of the Lord. 

Eli, the priest, was very old and had heard of all 
the evil things that his sons had done to the people 
of Israel. He reproached his sons, saying to them: 
“Why do you such things, for I have heard of all 
your doings to all the people and it is not a good 
report that I hear. You make the people break 
the laws and my head is bowed in sorrow on ac¬ 
count of you.” But the sons only laughed at the 
old Eli and continued in their wicked ways. 

Eli should have sent his sons away from the 
tabernacle and punished them but he did not. One 
day there appeared a prophet to Eli and said to 
him: “You honor your sons above the Lord and 
because you let them do evil in His sight you also 
are guilty of sin; therefore, the time comes when 
you shall no longer be priest nor any of your house¬ 
hold and your two wicked sons shall die the same 
day. Then the Lord will raise up a faithful priest 
who shall do according to His word, and the time 
shall come when everyone left of your household 
shall crouch before me and beg for a piece of silver 
and a morsel of bread, for they shall be poor and 
in want.” 




THE YOUNG SAMUEL 


183 


The child Samuel continued to live in the taber¬ 
nacle and waited on Eli, the priest. Eli grew older 
and his eyes began to fail him so that he could not 
see. One night Eli lay down to sleep in the taber¬ 
nacle and Samuel lay down also. The Lord called 
Samuel and the child answered: “Here am I.” 
Samuel thought Eli had spoken to him and he arose 
and ran to the old priest and said: “Here am I, for 
you called me.” 

“I called you not; go, lie down again,” replied 
the old priest, and Samuel went and lay down. 

But the Lord called again: “Samuel, Samuel,” 
and again Samuel arose and went to Eli and said: 
“Here am I, you surely did call me.” 

“I called you not, my son, go lie down again,” 
said the old priest to the child. Samuel went again 
and lay down for he did not know the voice of the 
Lord. So when the Lord called Samuel again the 
third time, he arose and went to Eli and said to 
him: “Here am I, for you surely did call me.” 

Then Eli knew that the Lord had called the child. 
He, therefore, said unto Samuel: “Go, my child, and 
lie down, and if you hear the voice again, you must 
say, “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant is listening.” 
So Samuel went and lay down again in his place. 

Again the voice came and spoke to the child and 
said as before: “Samuel, Samuel,” and Samuel an- 




184 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


swered: “ Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” 

Then the Lord told Samuel what he was going to 
do in Israel at which both ears of every one that 
heard it would tingle. He said he was going to 
punish Eli and all his household for the sins they 
had committed and that when he began he would 
not stop until he had finished. And Samuel lay 
down upon his bed until the morning and then 
arose to open the doors of the house. 

Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the things that the 
Lord had told him, but Eli called Samuel and said: 
“Samuel, my son, what is the thing that the Lord 
hath told unto you; do not hide it from me.” Then 
Samuel told him all that the Lord had told him 
and hid nothing from him. 


THE PHILISTINES CAPTURE THE ARK 

Samuel continued to grow and the Lord was with 
him. He attended faithfully to the duties of the 
tabernacle and everybody knew that he was to be 
a prophet of the Lord. The Lord appeared to Sam¬ 
uel again in Shiloh and told him many things that 
he should know, for he was to become one of the 
great prophets of Israel. 

Now the time came when the people of Israel 
went out to give battle to the Philistines. The Phil- 




THE PHILISTINES CAPTURE THE ARK 185 


istines attacked the people of Israel so fiercely that 
they smote them and slew about four thousand men. 
The elders of Israel cried out: “Why has the 
Lord smitten us at the hands of the Philistines? 

i 

Let us bring the ark of the covenant out of Shiloh 
that it may save us out of the hands of our 
enemies.” 

The people then went to Shiloh to bring the ark 
of the covenant. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and 
Phinehas, were there and helped bring the ark to 
the camp of Israel. When the ark was brought into 
the camp all the people of Israel shouted with a 
great shout for they thought that the presence of 
the ark would surely bring them victory over the 
Philistines. 

When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout¬ 
ing of the Israelites they were afraid and said 
among themselves: “Their God is going into their 
camp. Who shall deliver us out of the hands of 
this mighty God? This is the God that smote the 
Egyptians with all the plagues!” 

The leaders of the Philistines went among their 
ranks and called out to the people: “So be strong, 
and carry yourselves like men, oh you Philistines! 
for if you do not you shall be servants unto the 
Hebrews as they have been to you. You must go 
as men and fight.” 




186_HEROES OF ISRAEL_. 

But the Lord was not with Israel, though the ark 
of the covenant was in their camp. The Philistines 
fought and Israel was smitten and fled every man 
into his tent, and there was a very great slaughter, 
for there fell that day, thirty thousand men of Israel. 
The ark of God was taken by the Philistines and 
the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were 
slain just as the voice of the Lord had said to 
Samuel. 

A man of the tribe of Benjamin ran out of the 
camp to Shiloh with his clothes torn and with earth 
upon his head. When he came near Shiloh he saw 
the old priest Eli, sitting upon a seat by the way- 
side, watching, for his heart trembled for the ark 
of God. The man ran into the city and told the 
people that the Philistines had slain thirty thous¬ 
and of the Israelites. Then all the people cried out 
with a great cry. 

Eli heard the cries and wailings of the people 
and said to those around him: “What means the 
noise of all this turmoil?” and the man who had 
run out of the camp of Israel to ShilolTcame where 
Eli was and told him what had happened. Eli was 
ninety-eight years old and his eyes were so dim 
that he could not see. 

“Tell me what has happened to my sons?” Eli 
said to the man. 




THE PHILISTINES RETURN THE ARK 187 


“ Israel has fled before the Philistines and there 
has been a great slaughter among the people and 
your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, 
and the ark of God is taken by the Philistines,” the 
messenger answered. 

When the old Eli heard that his sons were dead 
and that the ark of God had been taken he fell over 
from his seat backward by the side of the gate of 
the city. His neck was broken and he died. He 
was an old man and heavy of weight and had judged 
Israel for forty years. 


THE PHILISTINES RETURN THE ARK 

The Philistines had captured the ark of the Lord 
in the battle with the people of Israel. They took 
the ark and brought it from Ebenezer, where the 
battle had been fought, up to Ashdod, their own 
heathen city. There they brought it into the temple 
of their heathen god, and set the ark by the side of 
Dagon. 

In the morning when the people arose early to go 
into their temple, they were astonished to see Dagon, 
their heathen god, fallen down on his face before the 
ark of the Lord. No one knew how it had hap¬ 
pened, and there was much talk among the people. 
They took Dagon and set him in his place again. 




188_HEROES OF ISRAEL__ 

The next morning the people again arose early 
to go into the temple, and again they saw Dagon 
fallen down before the ark of the Lord. This time 
his head and his hands were broken off, and only 
the body of the heathen god was left. 

So greatly were the people and priests frightened 
at this strange occurrence that none of them would 
afterwards walk over the place where the idol had 
fallen, though they set him up again the best they 
could. 

Now the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the 
people of Ashdod. He smote them with sickness 
and many of them died, not only in Ashdod, but in 
the country around. When the people saw the 
calamity upon them they cried out: “The ark of 
the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for His 
hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon, our god.” 

They sent to the lords of the Philistines and 
asked them: “What shall we do with the ark of the 
God of Israel?” and they answered: “Let the ark 
of the God of Israel be carried to Gath.” Gath was 
one of the cities of the Philistines, and so the ark 
was carried there and placed in sight of the people. 

At Gath the people were no better off than at 
Ashdod, for the hand of the Lord smote the people 
of that city with sickness, and there was a great 
destruction. Therefore, they hastened to move the 




THE PHILISTINES RETURN THE ARK 189 


ark from Gath to another place called Ekron, but 
when the people of Ekron saw the ark coming 
they cried aloud: “They have brought the ark 
of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our 
people.” 

By this time the Philistines were afraid to have 
the ark in any of their cities, for wherever it went 
there came sickness and calamity to the people. 
So they gathered the lords of the Philistines and 
said to them: “Send away the ark of the God of 
Israel, and let it go again to its own place, for there 
is destruction wherever the ark goes among us.” 
And the cry of the cities of the Philistines was heard 
everywhere, for many people were dead with the 
sickness, and others were smitten. 

The ark was in the country of the Philistines 
seven months. There was not a city that wanted 
it to abide among the people, and something had 
to be done to relieve the people of their suffering. 
The lords of the Philistines called the priests and 
the diviners together, saying to them: “What shall 
we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we 
shall send it to its own place.” 

The priests and diviners then told the lords of 
the Philistines: “If you send away the ark of the 
Lord, you must not send it away empty, but you 
must send with it a trespass offering.” 




190_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

“What shall this trespass offering be that we 
must send with the ark of the Lord?” asked the 
Philistines of the priests. And the priests told them 
to make five golden images, to represent the sickness 
with which the people had been afflicted, and also five 
golden mice, and to send these as a trespass offering. 

The priests also said: “Make a new cart, and 
take two cows that have never borne a yoke, and 
tie them to the cart, and keep their calves at home. 
Then take the ark and put it upon the cart, and put 
all the golden images in a box by the side of the 
ark, and then turn the cows loose that they may 
draw the cart, in whatever way they will, without 
any one to drive them.” 

Then the priests told the people: “If the cows 
leave their calves at their homes, and of their will 
draw the cart into the land of Israel, then the people 
will know that it was the hand of the Lord that 
brought them all their troubles and that he was 
angry with them for having captured the ark from 
the Israelites. 

“If, however, the cows do not leave their calves 
and their homes and do not take the ark back into 
the land of Israel, then the people would know that 
the Lord was not punishing the Philistines, and that 
they might keep the ark, for all their trouble had 
come upon them by chance.” 




THE PHILISTINES RETURN THE ARK 191 

The men did as the priests directed them to do. 
They made a new cart, and tied two cows to it that 
had never borne a yoke, and shut up the calves at 
home. They laid the ark upon the cart, and the 
box with the golden mice and the golden images 
* representing the sickness. Then they turned the 
cows loose to go their own way without any guidance 
or any hand to drive or to lead them. 

The cows took the straight way to the land of 
Israel, and went along the highway, drawing the 
cart behind them, and lowing as they went. They 
did not turn to the right hand nor to the left, nor 
did they seek to find their own homes nor their 
own calves. The lords of the Philistines went after 
them until they came to the borders of the land of 
Israel. 

The men of Israel were reaping their wheat in 
the valley and they raised their eyes and saw the 
ark of the Lord coming in a new cart drawn by two 
cows. The men stopped from their labors and gave 
a great shout of joy. The cart came into the field 
of a man named Joshua, and stood there, where 
there was a great stone. The men of Israel broke 
up the cart and slew the cows and made a burnt 
offering to the Lord for restoring them the ark that 
had been in the hands of the Philistines for seven 
months. 





192 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Then the Levites took the ark of the Lord, and 
the box that held the golden mice and set them 
upon the great stone. All the men of Israel con¬ 
tinued to offer burnt offerings, while the lords of 
the Philistines returned to their own homes. 

SAUL IS ANOINTED KING 

When Samuel was old, he decided to make his 
sons judges over Israel, because he thought they 
were young and better able to manage the affairs 
of the people than he was. But his sons were not 
good men; they walked not in the ways of the Lord, 
but were bent on making money, and taking bribes, 
and had little care whether justice was done or not. 

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together 
and came to see Samuel and told him: “Samuel, 
you are old, and your sons do not walk in the ways 
of the Lord, and they are not good judges. You 
must select a king to rule over us like other nations 
that we know.” 

When the people asked Samuel to give them a 
king he was displeased, and did not know what to 
do. So he prayed to the Lord for guidance. The 
Lord told him: “Listen to the voice of the people 
and hear all they say to you. They have not re¬ 
jected you but they have rejected me. If they will 




SAUL IS ANOINTED KING 


193 


have a king, let it be as they wish, but tell them the 
kind of king I shall send over them.” And the 
Lord told him the kind of king that He would send. 

Samuel went forth before the people and said as 
the Lord had told him: “This shall be the kind of 
king that shall reign over you: He shall take your 
sons and make them work for him, and make them 
take care of his chariots and horses. He will make 
them cultivate the ground and reap the harvests, 
and make implements of war. He will take your 
daughters and make them cooks and bakers. He 
will take your fields and your vineyards, and your 
olive trees and give them to his servants, and he will 
take all your servants, and your asses and make 
them do his work.” 

Notwithstanding all this, the people refused to 
obey the voice of Samuel and said: “Nay; but 
we will have a king over us. We wish to be like other 
nations and have a king that will judge us, and go 
out before us, and fight our battles.” 

When Samuel told all this to the Lord, He said 
to Samuel: “Listen to what they say and make them 
a king.” And Samuel told all the elders to go back 
to their cities and he would find them a king. 

There was a man of Benjamin named Kish, and 
he had a son whose name was Saul. There was not 
among the children of Israel a goodlier person than 




194 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Saul. From his shoulders up he was taller than any 
other of the people. Saul took care of his father’s 
asses and one time when some of them were lost, 
Kish said to his son: 

“Take one of the servants, and arise, go find the 
asses which have strayed away and are lost.” 

Saul wandered through many places looking for 
the lost asses, but nowhere were they to be found. 
When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to 
his servant: “Come, let us return, lest my father 
cease to worry about the asses and begin to worry 
about us.” But the servant replied: “There is in 
this city a man of God. All that he says shall surely 
come to pass. Let us go seek him, probably he can 
show us the way we should go.” 

“If we go, what shall we give the man of God?” 
answered Saul. “The bread is gone and I have no 
present for him.” But the servant said he had a 
small silver coin to give the seer, for so the man of 
God was called. Then they went into the city to 
find the seer, and ask of him the way they should go. 

As they went up the hill they found young maid¬ 
ens coming out to get water from the wells, and asked 
them: “Is the seer here?” The maidens replied that 
the seer was coming into the city that day to make 
a sacrifice, and that, if they would make haste, 
they would find him. Then Saul and his servant 


i 




SAUL IS ANOINTED KING 


195 


hurried into the city to find the seer, who was no 
other than Samuel, the prophet and the man of God. 

The Lord had already told Samuel: “Tomorrow, 
about this time, I will send you a man out of the 
land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be 
captain over my people.” When Saul and his serv¬ 
ant came near to the place where Samuel was, the 
Lord said again to him: “Behold the man of whom 
I spoke to you. This is he who shall reign over my 
people.” 

Saul did not know Samuel and asked him to show 
him the house where the seer lived. But Samuel 
answered: “I am the seer. Go up to my house, for 
you shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will 
let you go. As for the asses, worry no longer about 
them for they are found. As for yourself, all the 
desire of Israel has come upon you and your father’s 
house.” 

Saul was greatly astonished at these words and 
replied to the old prophet: “I am a Benjamite, the 
smallest tribe of Israel. My family is the least of 
that tribe. Why do you speak thus to me?” 

Samuel made no answer but brought Saul and his 
servant into the parlor, and made them sit in the 
best place among all the guests he had invited, and 
made the cook bring the best meat and put it before 
them. 




196 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


After the feast was over Samuel took Saul to the 
top of the house and talked with him a long time, 
and found out many things about him and his 
family, and told him many things about the child¬ 
ren of Israel. When they came down from the top 
of the house, Samuel made Saul send away his 
servant, in order that he might show him more of 
the word of God. 

Then Samuel took a small bottle of oil and poured 
the oil upon the head of Saul, and kissed him, and 
said: “This is because the Lord has anointed you 
to be captain over His people.” And the old prophet 
then told him many things which would happen to 
him as he went his way. 

And it happened as Samuel had foretold. When 
Saul came to the place of Rachel's sepulchre, he 
found two men and they said to him: “The asses 
which you went to seek are found, and your father 
has ceased to worry over the asses, and now is con¬ 
cerned for the safety of his son.” 

Then Saul came to the plains of Tabor and there 
he met three men, one carrying three kids, one 
carrying three loaves of bread, and one carrying a 
bottle of wine. The men greeted Saul and one of them 
gave him two loaves of bread which he took from them. 

Saul went on his way and came to a place where 
there was a garrison of the Philistines. There he 




SAUL IS ANOINTED KING 


197 


met a company of prophets coming down with 
musical instruments, and they began to prophesy. 
The spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and he be¬ 
gan to prophesy also and became a changed man 
from that time. 

When all those who had known Saul before this 
heard him prophesy, they said one to another: 
“What is this that has come to the son of Kish? 
Is Saul also among the prophets?” And this saying 
became a proverb with the people of Israel. 

Saul’s uncle said to him: “Where did you and the 
servant go?” And Saul told him that while they 
were seeking the asses they also went to Samuel, 
and that Samuel told them that the asses were 
found. But Saul did not tell his uncle the other 
things the old prophet had said to him. 

When Samuel called the people together at Miz- 
peh, in order to have a king set over them as they 
wished, he told them to present themselves by tribes 
and by their thousands. When all the tribes had 
assembled, the tribe of Benjamin was selected to be 
the one from which a king was to be chosen. 

When the tribe of Benjamin came by their fam¬ 
ilies, the family of Matri was taken, then the house¬ 
hold of Kish was taken, and out of that household 
Saul was chosen to be king over Israel. When they 
sought to find the young man he could not be found. 




198 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Therefore, they asked of the Lord: “Shall the 
young man come and be king, and where shall he 
be found?’’ And the Lord told them that Saul had 
hidden himself, and that they would find him among 
the stuff of the fields. 

The people ran and found Saul as the Lord had 
said and brought him in before them and as he 
stood among them he was taller than any other of 
the people from his shoulders upwards. 

Then Samuel cried out: “See him whom the Lord 
has chosen to be your king! There is none like him 
among all the people.” 

And all the people shouted: “God save the king!” 


JONATHAN AND THE PHILISTINES 

During all the time that Saul was king there was 
war with the Philistines. Saul had need of soldiers, 
so that when he saw any strong man, or valiant 
man, he made a soldier or servant of him and 
took him into his service. Oftentimes Saul 
overcame the Philistines but then, again, the 
Philistine army bore hard upon the people of 
Israel. 

One time the Philistines gathered together to fight 
with Israel. There were thirty thousand chariots 
and six thousand horsemen, and as for the soldiers 




JONATHAN AND THE PHILISTINES 


199 


of the Philistines, they were in multitudes like the 
sand on the seashore. 

When the men of Israel saw this great host com¬ 
ing up against them they were so frightened that 
they hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and 
among the rocks, and in pits. And some even ran 
away over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. 

Saul was in Gilgal, and some of the people came 
to him trembling. Saul was waiting for Samuel, but 
Samuel came not, though Saul waited seven days. 
Then Saul said: “Bring a burnt offering and a peace 
offering to me/’ And he himself offered the sacri¬ 
fice unto the Lord. 

As soon as he had made an end of the offering, 
Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him and 
to salute him. Samuel said: “ What have you done?” 
And Saul answered: “Because I saw the people 
scattered, and you came not, and the Philistines 
were gathered to destroy the people of Israel, I 
hastened to make the offering unto the Lord 
myself.” 

“You have done foolishly,” was the reply of the 
old prophet. “You have not kept the commandment 
of the Lord, and now your kingdom shall not con¬ 
tinue. The Lord will seek another man after His 
own heart.” And Samuel rose and left Saul and 
went into the land of Benjamin. 




200 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


It came to pass upon a certain day that Jonathan 
the son of Saul, said to the young man that bore 
his armor: “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ 
garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not 
tell his father, nor did the people know that he was 
going. 

In order to get to the garrison of the Philistines, 
Jonathan and the armor bearer had to go between 
two sharp rocks, one on either side of a passage. 
Jonathan said to the armor bearer: “It may be that 
the Lord will work for us, for it does not matter to 
Him whether we be few or many, He can give us the 
victory.” 

“Do all that is in your heart, I am with you,” 
replied the young man. And so they came along 
the passage between the sharp rocks, and the Phil¬ 
istines did not know they were coming. 

Then the two men discovered themselves to the 
garrison of the Philistines and made a great noise as 
if an army were behind them. The Philistines cried 
out in alarm: “Behold, the Hebrews have come out 
of the holes where they had hidden themselves, and 
are upon us!” 

Then Jonathan and the armor bearer fell upon 
the Philistines with their swords, and the Lord was 
with them. At the first onset they slew twenty men, 
within, as it were, a half acre of land. Then all the 





THE DISOBEDIENCE OF SAUL 


201 


Philistines began to tremble for fear of the Israelites, 
and the earth also trembled, and the mighty host of 
the Philistines began to beat upon one another, and 
went away in their fear, until there was a great 
slaughter. 

“ Number the people and see who has gone out 
from us to do battle with the Philistines.” com¬ 
manded Saul. And when the number was taken it 
was found that Jonathan and the armor bearer were 
not there. Then Saul and all the people pursued 
after the Philistines and slew many more as they 
fled before them. 


THE DISOBEDIENCE OF SAUL 

Now Saul had sent forth an order, saying: “Cursed 
be any man that eats any food until evening, that I 
may be avenged on my enemies.” So none of the 
people tasted any food. 

As the soldiers passed through a wood, there was 
honey upon the ground, but no man touched it for 
fear of the curse of Saul. But Jonathan was not 
with the people when his father sent forth the order, 
and did not know that he should not touch food. 
So he took the rod that was in his hand, and dipped 
it in the honey-comb, and then put the honey in 
his mouth. 




202 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Then one of the people said to Jonathan: “Your 
father charged the people with an oath that they 
should not eat any food this day.” But Jonathan 
replied that his father had troubled the people by 
such an oath and that they were faint, and that it 
would have been better if they had eaten while 
they were giving battle to their enemies. 

“If the people had eaten freely of the spoil of 
their enemies this day, they would have had strength 
to slay more of the Philistines,” said he. Still, the 
slaughter was very great, for the Lord was with Israel. 

Then the hungry people fell upon the spoil, and 
took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them 
on the ground, and ate the flesh raw, with the blood 
yet upon it, which was a sin in the sight of the Lord. 
And when Saul heard what the people had done he 
desired to know who had led the people into this sin 
and called all the chief men of the tribes together. 
He said to them: 

“As the Lord liveth, though it be Jonathan, my 
son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man 
among all the people that answered him. 

Then Saul spoke again: “Let all the people be 
on one side and Jonathan and I will be on the other 
side, and let the Lord decide which is guilty, the 
people or one of my household.” And when the lot 
was decided Jonathan was taken. 




THE DISOBEDIENCE OF SAUL 


203 


“Tell me, what you have done?” demanded Saul 
of his son. 

“I but tasted a little honey with the end of the 
rod that was in my hand, and for that must I die?” 
asked Jonathan. And Saul told him he must die 
as the curse had declared. 

Then the people shouted: “Shall Jonathan die, 
who has saved Israel from her enemies this day? 
As the Lord liveth there shall not one hair of his 
head fall to the ground.” So the people rescued 
Jonathan from the wrath of his father, and he did 
not die. 

The word of the Lord came to Saul again: “Go 
and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they 
have, and spare them not.” And Saul gathered all 
the people together, and they came to a city of the 
Amalekites and laid in wait in the valley. When 
the Amalekites came out to give battle to Israel, 
they were smitten by the sword and utterly de¬ 
feated according as the Lord had told Saul. 

But Agag, the king of the Amalekites, was taken 
alive, and the best of the sheep, and oxen, and 
lambs, and all that was good, were spared. Only 
that which was vile and refuse did Saul and his 
soldiers destroy. 

The Lord spoke to Samuel and said: “Saul has 
not done as I commanded him, and he is turned 




204 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


back from following me. I repent that I have 
made him king of Israel /’ This grieved Samuel 
so much that he cried unto the Lord all 
night. 

When Samuel came to Saul, the king said: “ Blessed 
be you, Samuel, for I have performed all that the 
Lord told me.” 

“What means this bleating of the sheep in my 
ears, and lowing of oxen which I hear?” asked the 
prophet. Saul then told him that the people had 
brought them from the Amalekites, and had spared 
the best of the sheep and of the oxen to offer as a 
sacrifice to the Lord. 

When Samuel saw that Saul was trying to excuse 
himself for his disobedience, he said to him: “I will 
tell you what the Lord has said to me this night. 
When you were little in your own sight, you were 
made head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord 
anointed you king over Israel, and sent you to 
utterly destroy the Amalekites and all that they had. 
But you did evil in the sight of the Lord and fell 
upon the spoil and did not destroy it, and have 
brought away Agag, their king, and the best of 
their sheep and oxen and lambs.” 

“The people took the spoil which should have 
been destroyed to offer sacrifices unto the Lord,” 
replied the king. 




SAMUEL ANOINTS DAVID 


205 


But Samuel answered: “Has the Lord more de¬ 
light in. sacrificing than in obedience to His word? 
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken 
than the fat of rams. Rebellion against the word of 
God is sin, and for that you shall be made to suffer. 
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, 
He will reject you from being king.” 

As Samuel turned to go, Saul lay hold of the 
skirt of his mantle, but it tore in his hands. Where¬ 
upon Samuel said: “This means that the Lord has 
torn the kingdom of Israel from you and your house¬ 
hold and given it to some one else, that is better 
than you.” 

Then Samuel left Saul and came no more to see 
him. 


SAMUEL ANOINTS DAVID 

Saul was no longer pleasing in the sight of the 
Lord and He had rejected him from reigning over 
Israel. Therefore, he said to Samuel: “Fill your 
horn with oil, and go to Jesse, the Bethlemite, for 
I have chosen a king among his sons.” 

“How can I go? If Saul hear it he will kill me,” 
said Samuel. But the Lord told him to take a 
heifer and say he had come to sacrifice, and when 
he had called Jesse to the sacrifice the Lord would 




HEROES OF ISRAEL 


>■ ■■ — 

206 

tell him what to do and whom to anoint to be king 
over Israel. 

Samuel did as the Lord had told him and came 
to Bethlehem. The elders of the town trembled 
when they heard he had come, and said: “Do you 
come peaceably? ” And Samuel told them he came 
peaceably and that he had come to sacrifice to the 
Lord. He then called Jesse and his sons to the 
sacrifice. 

When they had come, Samuel looked upon Eliab, 
one of the sons of Jesse, and said: “Surely, the Lord’s 
anointed is before me.” But the Lord said to Sam¬ 
uel: “Look not on his countenance, nor on the 
height of his stature, because I have refused him. 
The Lord sees not as man sees, for man looks on 
the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the 
heart.” 

Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass 
before Samuel, but Samuel replied: “Neither has 
the Lord chosen this one.” 

Then Jesse called Shammah and made him pass 
before Samuel, but Samuel said again: “Neither 
has the Lord chosen this one.” 

In the same way Jesse made seven of his sons 
pass before Samuel, and to each one the old prophet 
made the same answer: “Neither:has the Lord 
chosen this one.” 




SAMUEL ANOINTS DAVID 


207 


“Are these all of your children?” he asked Jesse. 
To which Jesse replied: “There remains yet the 
youngest but he keeps the sheep.” 

“Send and have him brought here, for I shall not 
sit until he is brought before me,” ordered Samuel. 

- And they sent and brought him in, and Samuel saw 
that he was ruddy and of a beautiful countenance 
and goodly to look upon. Then the Lord said: 
“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 

Samuel then took the horn of oil and anointed 
David as he stood before him in the midst of his 

brethren and from that day the spirit of the Lord 
was upon David. 

At the same time the spirit of the Lord departed 
from King Saul and an evil spirit troubled him. 
His servants said to him: “It is an evil spirit from 
God that troubles you. Command your servants to 
seek out some one who can play on the harp so that 
when the evil spirit is upon you he shall play the 
harp and you shall be well again.” 

“Go, find a man that can play well and bring 
him to me,” said the king. 

One of the servants said: “I have seen a son of 
Jesse, the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing 
and a valiant man and a man of war. He is prudent 
in all matters, comely to look upon and the Lord 
is with him.” 




208 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Saul at once sent messengers to Jesse telling him 
to send David, his son, to him. David came to 
Saul and stood before him, and Saul loved him greatly 
so he made him his armor bearer. When the evil spirit 
was upon Saul, David took his harp and played to him. 

DAVID AND GOLIATH 

The Philistines gathered their armies together to 
do battle to the people of Israel. The Philistines 
were on a mountain on one side of the valley and 
the people of Israel stood on a mountain on the 
other side of the valley. 

There was a giant out of the camp of the Phil¬ 
istines whose name was Goliath. He was very tall 
and fierce and strong. He wore a helmet of brass 
upon his head and was armed with a coat of mail. 
The staff of his spear was as large as a beam and a 
man went before him carrying his shield. 

He came before the armies of Israel and said in 
a loud voice: u Why do you come to give battle to 
the Philistines? Choose a man from among you and 
let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with 
me then we will be your servants, but if I kill him 
you shall be our servants and shall serve us. I defy 
the armies of Israel today. Give me a man that we 
may fight together.” 






David Meets the Boastful Goliath 















DAVID AND GOLIATH 


209 


When Saul and all Israel heard the words of the 
Philistine giant, they were dismayed and greatly 
afraid. 

In this way the giant came out before the people 
every morning and every evening and defied them 
for forty days, but there was no man strong enough 
to give him battle. 

Now three of David’s brethren were among the 
soldiers of Israel and followed Saul to battle, but 
David had returned from Saul and gone 
back to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem, 
while Israel was engaged in war with the 
Philistines. 

One day Jesse sent David to the camp of Israel 
to take food to his brothers. When he came to them 
and was talking to them, Goliath marched out in 
front of the armies and again defied Saul and his 
soldiers. David saw the men of Israel fleeing from 
the giant and saw how greatly they were 
afraid. 

The men of Israel said: “Have you seen this man 
who has come up against us and defies us to battle? 
It shall be that the man who kills him will receive 
great riches from the king and the king will give 
him his daughter and make his father’s house free 
in Israel.” David spoke to the men that stood near 
him and said: “Why does not some one kill this 




210 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Philistine and who is he that he should defy the 
armies of God?” 

David’s brethren turned upon him in anger and 
told him that he could go back to his sheep in the 
wilderness, but David kept right on talking and 
wondering why some one did not go out and fight 
the giant. 

At last Saul heard that David was in the camp 
and sent for him. Then David said to Saul: “I am 
not afraid of the Philistine giant; I will go and fight 
with him myself.” 

“You are not able to go against this Philistine to 
fight with him,” replied Saul, “for you are but a 
youth and he has been a man of war for many years.” 

Then David said to Saul: “I keep my father’s 
sheep and once there came a lion and took a lamb 
out of the flock and I went after him and smote 
him and took the lamb out of his mouth. When 
the lion rose against me I caught him by his beard 
and slew him. I slew a bear in the same way and I 
shall do the same thing to this Philistine who defies 
the armies of God.” 

“The Lord that delivered you out of the paw of 
the lion and out of the paw of the bear will also 
deliver you out of the hand of this giant,” said 
Saul to the young David;“ Go, and the Lord be 
with you.” 




DAVID AND GOLIATH 


211 


Then Saul offered David his own armor, and his 
helmet to put upon his head, but David said: “I 
cannot fight with these for I have never tried them.” 
Then he laid aside the armor and the helmet and the 
sword and went out with his staff in his 
hand. 

He went out by a brook and chose five smooth 
stones and put them in a shepherd's bag which he 
had. He carried his sling in his hand and in this 
way drew near Goliath who was again in front of 
the armies of Israel, defying any man to come out to 
combat. 

When the Philistine looked about and saw David 
he scorned him, because David was only a youth 
and was ruddy and of a fair countenance. “Am I 
a dog that you come to fight me with stones?” said 
the Philistine to David, in disdain. 

“Come to me and I will give your flesh 
to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the 
field,” cried Goliath again to the youth before 
him. 

But David answered: “You come with a sword 
and with a spear and with a shield but I come in 
the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies 
of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord 
will deliver you into my hand. I will smite you and 
cut off your head and give the dead bodies of many 




212 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


of the Philistines to the fowls of the air and to the 
wild beasts of the earth that all the world may know 
that there is a God in Israel.” 

Goliath roared with a mighty voice when he heard 
ehese words of David and started towards the youth 
to slay him. David did not run from the giant but 
hastened to run towards him to meet him. As he 
ran he put his hand in his bag and took out a stone 
and put it in the sling. When he came near the 
Philistine, he stopped and hurled the sling about 
his head and let the stone go. It went straight as 
an arrow and smote the Philistine in his forehead. 

The stone sank deep into the head of the giant 
and he fell dead upon his face to the earth and all 
the people of Israel and the armies of the Philistines 
looked on in amazement. 

There was no sword in David’s hand, therefore, 
he ran and stood upon the dead Philistine and took 
his sword and cut off his head with it. When the 
Philistines saw that their champion was dead and 
that David had cut off his head they fled in great 
dismay and the men of Israel shouted and pursued 
them for a long way. They slew many of them and 
spoiled their tents of all the goods they had. David 
took the head of the Philistine and brought it to 
Jerusalem but he put the mighty armor of the giant 
in his own tent. 




SAUL IS JEALOUS OF DAVID 


213 


SAUL IS JEALOUS OF DAVID 

After David had slain Goliath, Saul took him 
into his own house and would not let him return 
any more to his father’s people. Jonathan, the son 
of Saul, loved David as he loved his own soul, and 
stripped himself of his robe and his garments, and 
his bow, and his sword, and gave them all to 
David. 

David went wherever Saul sent him and behaved 
wisely. He was set over the soldiers and they fol¬ 
lowed him gladly; he went among the people and 
they found him wise and kind; he dealt with the 
servants justly and they loved him. 

It happened that when the people of Israel re¬ 
turned from the slaughter of the Philistines, that 
the women came out of all the cities, singing and 
dancing, to meet the soldiers. As they danced and 
sang they said: “Saul has slain his thousands, and 
David his ten thousands.” 

When Saul heard them say this he was very 
angry, and cried out: “They have given David 
ten thousand, and to me only a thousand. What 
can he have more than my kingdom itself?” And 
Saul began to envy David, and looked upon him 




214 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


with evil and jealous eyes, for the people honored 
him more than they did the king himself. 

The evil spirit came again upon Saul, and David 
played upon his harp to soothe the king. Saul sat 
before him thinking evil thoughts that he could 
not banish, and his javelin was in his hand. As 
David played upon the harp, Saul cast his javelin 
at him, not only once but twice, thinking to slay 
him. But David escaped from his presence, believ¬ 
ing it was the evil spirit that made Saul attempt 
his life. 

Saul was now afraid of David, because the Lord 
was with him, and because he behaved wisely in 
all his ways. He thought to be rid of David by 
making him fight the Philistines, hoping some day 
they would slay him. So he made him captain over 
his soldiers. 

Now, Michal, the daughter of Saul, loved David 
and was willing to marry him. When Saul heard 
of it he was pleased and said: “I will give her to 
him that she may be a snare to him and that the 
hand of the Philistines may be against him.” And 
he sent his servants secretly to tell David that he 
could have Michal for his wife. 

But David said: “I am a poor man, and it is no 
light thing to be a king's son-in-law.” But Saul 
sent an answer that all David had to do was to kill 





SAUL IS JEALOUS OF DAVID 


215 


a hundred Philistines and Saul would be satisfied 
to have him for a son-in-law. 

So David rose and went with his men and slew 
two hundred Philistines and word was brought to 
Saul that they were slain. He could do no other¬ 
wise than give Michal to be David’s wife, but he 
feared David more and more and was his enemy 
continually. 

Saul told Jonathan and all his servants that they 
must kill David. Jonathan warned David and made 
him hide in a secret place until his father’s anger 
had passed. But Saul began to fear David more 
and more, especially when David would return from 
the slaughter of the Philistines and the people would 
sing his praises. 

Again the evil spirit came upon Saul, and David 
played upon the harp to soothe him. Again the 
king cast his javelin at David to slay him, but again 
David escaped from the wrath of the king, and the 
javelin smote the wall. 

Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch 
him, and to slay him in the morning, but Michal, 
his wife, told David: “If you do not save yourself 
tonight, tomorrow you will be slain.” So Michal 
let David down through a window, so that he 
escaped those who watched him outside, and fled 
to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul 




216 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to 
live in Naioth. 

DAVID AND JONATHAN 

After a while David came back to the house of 
Saul, and again was received in his household and 
sat among the king’s servants. One day David 
said to Jonathan: “What have I done, and what is 
my sin, that your father seeks continually to kill 
me? Truly, as the Lord lives, there is always but 
one step between me and death.” 

They agreed that David was to hide himself in 
a field, for three days, and if Saul missed him then 
Jonathan was to say: “David asked leave to go to 
Bethlehem, for there is a yearly sacrifice there by 
his family.” 

If Saul should say it was well, then they were to 
know that he intended no evil against David, but 
if Saul was angry then they were to know that 
David was in danger of the king’s wrath. Then 
they both went into the field and swore eternal 
love to each other, before that David should hide 
himself. 

“Who shall tell me and how shall I know if your 
father, the king, be angry with me?” asked David 
of Jonathan. 




DAVID AND JONATHAN 


Then Jonathan told him: “At the end of three 
days, come to a certain place and I will shoot three 
arrows as though I shot at a mark. And I will send 
a lad after the arrows. If I tell this lad that these 
arrows are on this side of him you may know there 
. is peace and the king means you no harm; but if 
I tell the lad the arrows are beyond him, then you 
will have to go your way, for the king’s anger will 
be against you.” 

So David hid himself in the field, and when the 
morrow was come the king sat down to eat. David’s 
place among the king’s household was empty, but 
Saul said nothing, thinking that something had 
befallen him. 

On the next day David’s place was still empty, 
and Saul said to Jonathan: “ Why does not the son of 
Jesse come to his meat, neither yesterday, nor today? ’ ’ 

“David asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 
His family has a yearly sacrifice there, and his 
brothers sent him word to come, and I let him go, 
as he asked of me,” replied Jonathan to the king. 

At this Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan. 
He arose from his seat in wrath and said to his son: 
“You have chosen this son of Jesse to your con¬ 
fusion. So long as he lives you shall never be estab¬ 
lished king. Send at once and bring him to me, for 
again I swear he shall surely die.” 




218 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


“Why shall he be slain; and what has he done?” 
asked Jonathan of the king, ready to defend his 
friend from the wrath of his father. Saul gave no 
answer to his son, but seized his javelin and cast it 
at him with all his might, as if he would slay Jona¬ 
than along with David. But Jonathan escaped from 
the wrath of the king and arose from the table in 
fierce anger and would not eat with his father and 
the rest of the household. 

The next morning Jonathan went into the field 
at the time appointed with David and took a little 
lad with him. He said to the lad: “Run, find the 
arrows which I shoot.” And as the lad ran he shot 
an arrow beyond him. 

When the lad had come to the place where the 
arrow was which Jonathan had shot, he called out 
to him: “Is not the arrow beyond you? Make 
haste and stay not.” And the lad gathered up the 
arrows and came back to Jonathan, not knowing 
why he had been sent, or the meaning of the words 
which Jonathan had spoken. 

Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrow to the 
lad and said to him: “Go, carry them back to the 
city.” And the lad departed, leaving Jonathan 
alone in the field. 

As soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of 
his place and bowed himself three times to the 




THE MADNESS OF SAUL 


219 


ground. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other, 
knowing that they must be separated, for the king’s 
wrath was now known to David. Then Jonathan 
said to his friend: “Go in peace, for we have sworn, 
both of us in the name of the Lord, that he shall 
be between us and our children forever.” And 
David rose and departed and Jonathan went back 
into the city. 

THE MADNESS OF SAUL 

David fled to Nob, where lived Ahimelech, the 
priest. When Ahimelech asked him: “Why are you 
alone and no man with you?” David told him the 
king had sent him on a secret mission, for he did 
not wish the priest to know that he was fleeing from 
Saul. He then asked Ahimelech to give him bread 
to eat, for he was hungry. Ahimelech had nothing 
to give David but the shewbread, which was hal¬ 
lowed bread for use in the temple, so he gave him 
that to eat. 

Then David asked Ahimelech to give him a 
sword, for he had no weapon in his hand, saying 
the king’s business had required haste. 

“The sword of Goliath, whom you slew in the 
valley, is here, wrapped in a cloth,” replied Ahime¬ 
lech. “You may have that, for there is no other.” 


i 




220 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


David told the priest there was no sword like that, 
and so he took it and went his way. 

He next came to Achish, the king of Gath, where 
lived the Philistines. When the servants of King 
Achish saw David, they said: “Is not this man 
named David, and is he not the one of whom the 
people say that he slew his ten thousands, while 
Saul slew but his thousands?” When David heard 
the servants say this he knew he was recognized 
and was afraid of the people and the king. 

David now pretended he was a madman, and 
scrabbled on the doors of the gates of the city, and 
dribbled at the mouth as though he had lost his 
wits. When Achish saw David in this condition he 
said: “See, the man is mad, why have you brought 
him to me? Have I need of madmen that you have 
brought this fellow into my presence?” And they 
let David loose so that he could leave Gath and the 
Philistines. 

He came to the cave Adullam and made his dwell¬ 
ing there. When his brethren and all his father's 
house heard where he was they came to see him. 
Others came also, those in distress, those in debt, 
those who were discontented, until at last, about 
four hundred people gathered around David as he 
dwelt in the cave. At length a prophet named Gad, 
said to David: “Live no longer in this cave, but arise 




THE MADNESS OF SAUL 


221 


with your people and go into the land of Judah.” 
And David listened to the word of the prophet and 
left the cave. 

When Saul heard where David was and that the 
people were following him, he said to his servants: 
“Will this son of Jesse give every one of you fields 
and vineyards and make you captains of hundreds 
and thousands? All of you have conspired against 
me, and there is none of you that is sorry for 
me.” 

Then Doeg, who was set over the servants of 
Saul, said to the king: “I saw the son of Jesse com¬ 
ing to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech 
gave him food to eat and the sword of Goliath.” 

At this Saul was very angry and sent at once for 
Ahimelech and all the priests and made them come 
before him. Angrily he demanded of the priest: 
“Why have you conspired against me, and given 
bread and a sword to David, the son of Jesse? Do 
you not know that he will rise against me and lie 
in wait for me?” 

“There is none of your servants so faithful as 
David,” replied the priest. “He is your son-in-law, 
and goes at your bidding, and is honored in your 
house. I made no inquiry of him as to his mission: 
far be it from me. Let not the king think evil of 
me or of my household." 




222 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


But Saul was again in a great rage and shouted 
aloud: “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and 
all your household/’ and he commanded the foot¬ 
men that stood near to slay the priests, saying their 
hand was with David and that they knew where he 
fled and would not tell the king. But the servants 
of the king would not raise their hands against the 
priests of the Lord, and stood still before 
Saul. 

The king turned to Doeg and told him: “Fall 
upon these priests and slay them, every one.” And 
Doeg did as the king told him and slew all the priests 
and Ahimelech. Then Saul went with his soldiers to 
Nob, the city of the priests, and slew all the men, 
women and children, and all the cattle, because a 
great madness was upon him. 

DAVID SPARES THE LIFE OF SAUL 

Saul continued to pursue David in hopes to find 
him and slay him. He pursued him from city to 
city, into the woods, and even into the deserts. 
The king said to those about him: “Take knowledge 
of all the lurking places, where he hides himself, 
and come and tell me, and I will go with you. If 
he be in the land I will search him out through all 
the thousands of Judah. 




DAVID SPARES THE LIFE OF SAUL 


223 


But always David escaped him and Saul grew 
more and more bitter in his enmity of David, for 
he knew the Lord had appointed him one day to 
be king over Israel. 

One time when Saul was returning from a battle 
, with the Philistines, it was told him: “David is in 
the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three 
thousand men and went to seek David and his men 
among the rocks where the wild goats lived. The 
king came to a cave and went inside and lay down 
to rest. Soon he was fast asleep, not knowing that 
David and his men were also in the same cave and 
were in hiding from the king. 

The men whispered to David: “Your enemy is 
in your hands. Do to him as it seems good to you 
to do.” David would not kill the king because he 
was the Lord's anointed, but he took his knife and 
cut off the skirts of Saul's robe. He held back his 
men also, who desired to rush upon the king and 
end his life. After awhile Saul arose and went out 
of the cave. 

David and his men followed after him. David 
called out: “My lord and my king,” and when 
Saul looked behind him David bowed his face to 
the ground and spoke to him. 

“Why, oh king, do you believe men's words that 
say David seeks to do you harm? This day the Lord 




224 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


delivered you into my hands in the cave and some 
bade me kill you, but I said, I will not put forth my 
hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed. 
Moreover, see the skirt of your robe that is in my 
hand. I could have killed you but I would not.” 

“Is this your voice, my son David?” said Saul, 
as he looked upon the young man. “You are more 
righteous than I am, for you have done good towards 
me, whereas I would have done evil toward you,” 
and the king was so overcome that he wept. 

“Now I know well that you shall surely be king, 
and the kingdom of Israel shall be in your hands,” 
said Saul, and calling his men he went back to his 
home, leaving David in the wilderness. 

Now the good old Samuel had come to his last 
days. When he died all the people of Israel came 
together and lamented his death, and buried him 
in his house at Ramah. David then went to live 
in the wilderness of Paran, and afterwards into a 
wilderness called Ziph. 

It was not long before Saul’s wrath against David 
returned. As often as he would forget his enmity, 
as often it would return, and each time he sought 
again the young man’s life. Saul heard that David 
was in the wilderness of Ziph, and his anger kindled 
against him, for in his heart he feared David. He 
took three thousand men with him to seek David 




DAVID SPARES THE LIFE OF SAUL 


225 


and his band. When David heard that Saul was com¬ 
ing after him he sent spies to find out if it was true, and 
they returned and told him that Saul was on the way. 

David arose with his men and went to the place 
where he had made his camp, and no one saw him 
. and his men as they came. Saul lay asleep in a 
trench, and near him was Abner, the captain of his 
men, also asleep and the others were sleeping near 
by. David, with but one man, came near the king 
and his men, and saw him asleep with his spear 
stuck in the ground. 

His companions urged David to slay the king as 
he lay before him, as once before in the cave he had 
a chance to do. But David spoke: “The Lord for¬ 
bid that I should stretch forth my hand against the 
Lord’s anointed, but I pray you to take the spear 
that is stuck in the ground and the bottle of water 
and let us go.” 

So they took the spear and the bottle of water 
and went away and no man saw them, nor knew 
what had happened, and not one awoke from his 
sleep, for the Lord had sent a deep sleep upon Saul 
and his soldiers. And David went and stood on the 
top of a hill afar off, and cried in a loud voice, for 
Abner to awake and answer him. 

“Who are you that cries to the king?” was the 
angry reply of the captain as he awoke from his 




226 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


sleep and heard the voice. “Why have you not 
kept the lord, your king?” said David. “There 
came one to destroy him, and you were not on 
watch. See, here is the king’s spear and the cruse 
of water.” 

Then Saul awoke and called out: “Is this your 
voice, David?” And David answered: “It is my 
voice, my lord and king.” Then David told the 
king he had spared his life, and meant him no harm, 
and that he was pursuing David for doing only his 
duty. Saul then declared that he would not pursue 
David any longer, and would return to his home 
and leave David alone. And so he sent one of his 
young men over to get the spear and the bottle of 
water, and went on his way. 

THE LAST DAYS OF KING SAUL 

David went and dwelt in the land of the Philis¬ 
tines, with Achish, the king, in the city of Gath, 
and when Saul heard that David had fled to Gath, 
he sought him no further. The time that David 
dwelt in the land of the Philistines was a full year 
and four months. While he was there he led the 
soldiers of Achish against the heathen nations that 
dwelt in the land and smote them with great 
slaughter. 




THE LAST DAYS OF KING SAUL 


227 


After a while the Philistines gathered their armies 
together to war against Israel. When Saul saw the 
hosts of the Philistines he was sore afraid, and his 
heart troubled greatly. Then he said to one of his 
servants: “Find me a woman that has a familiar 
. spirit that I may go to her and ask her advice.” 
By this Saul meant some witch or some one who was 
supposed to talk with the spirit of the dead. 

“There is a woman at Endor, that has a familiar 
spirit/’ replied the servant. And Saul disguised 
himself and took one man with him and came to 
the witch at night and said to her: 

“I pray you, speak to me by the mouth of some 
departed spirit and bring him up to me, the one 
whom I shall name.” 

Now the woman did not know that it was Saul, 
the king, who was speaking to her, and said to him: 
“Saul, the king, has cut off all those who have 
familiar spirits, and if I do as you ask me, I shall 
surely die.” But the king told her that no harm 
should come to her, and asked her to bring up the 
spirit of the dead Samuel that he might speak to 
him. 

And behold, the spirit of Samuel arose before 
Saul, and the king stood with his face to the ground 
and bowed himself very low. The spirit asked Saul: 
“Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up?” 




228 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


And Saul told Samuel that the Philistines were come 
up against him, and that the Lord had deserted 
him, and he did not know what to do. 

Then the spirit of the old prophet spoke with an 
awful voice: “Why do you ask me, seeing that the 
Lord has departed from you and become your 
enemy? The Lord has taken the kingdom out of 
your hands and given it to David, because you did 
not obey the words of the Lord and punish the Am- 
alekites as He ordered you. Tomorrow you and 
your sons shall be with me, and the Philistines shall 
conquer the hosts of Israel, and the Lord will deliver 
them into the hands of their enemies.” 

Saul fell upon the ground with his face hidden, 
for fear of the words of Samuel. There was no 
strength in him for he had eaten nothing all that 

day nor the night before. The woman .made him 

/ 

rise and sit upon the bed in her room while she 
prepared him food. She hastened to cook meat and 
bread and set it before the king and his servant, 
who ate and were refreshed. Afterwards they arose 
and left the woman and went back to their own 
tents. 

The next day the Philistines fell upon the hosts 
of Israel, and pursued them with great slaughter. 
David fought not against Israel, for the princes of 
the Philistines were not willing for him, an Israelite, 




THE LAST DAYS OF KING SAUL 


229 


to fight along with them. So King Achish sent him 
back to the land of the Philistines. 

The Philistines followed hard upon Saul and his 
sons. The battle went against him, and the archers 
hit him, and he was sore wounded. Jonathan was 
slain and two other of Saul’s sons fell in battle. The 
enemy was close upon the king, so that he cried to 
his armor bearer: “Draw your sword and thrust 
me through, lest these heathen take me and slay 
me.” But the armor bearer would not slay his 
king, and turned away. 

Saul quickly drew his sword and, placing the 
point against his breast, fell upon it, so that the 
blade ran through his body and he was dead. When 
his armor bearer saw that the king had killed him¬ 
self he also fell upon his sword and died with his 
master. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his 
armor bearer and all his men. And the Philistines 
came the next day and cut off Saul’s head and 
stripped his body of its armor. Saul’s armor they 
put in the house of their heathen goddess, and 
fastened his body to the walls of Bethshan. 

And when the people of Israel saw that Saul was 
dead and the soldiers had fled, they forsook their 
cities, and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. 
When the people of Israel heard what the Philis¬ 
tines had done to Saul, all the valiant men rose 




230 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


and went by night to take the body of Saul from 
the walls of Bethshan. They brought it to Jabesh 
and there they buried it. They took the bones of 
his body and buried them under a tree. 

DAVID BECOMES KING 

After the death of Saul and Jonathan, David 
asked the Lord: “Shall I go up into any of the 
cities of Judah?” The Lord answered him: “You 
shall go up.” David then said: “Where shall I 
go?” And the Lord told him to go up to Hebron. 
So David took his household and all his followers 
and went to live in the cities of Hebron. While he 
was there, the men of Judah came and anointed 
him king over the tribe of Judah. 

Now Saul had a son, whose name was Ishbosh- 
eth. Many of the tribes of Israel chose him to be 
king over them so that for a time the people of 
Israel had two kings. There was now a long war 
between the house of Saul and the house of David. 
It so happened, however, that after some years two 
captains of the hosts of Ishbosheth went to his 
house in the heat of the day and found him lying 
in bed. They went through the house as though 
they were bringing wheat to him, but when 
they reached him they slew him in his bed. 




DAVID BECOMES KING 


231 


Then they cut off his head and fled with it. 

They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David 
at Hebron and there they said to the king: “Here 
is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, who is 
your enemy and who sought your life. The Lord 
• has avenged you this day upon the house of Saul.” 

But David was not pleased with this action of 
the captains and said to them in an angry voice: 
“You are wicked men who have slain a man in his 
own house and upon his own bed. I shall require 
his blood at your hands and shall have you taken 
away from the earth.” So David made his soldiers 
slay the murderers and cut off their hands and their 
feet and hang their bodies over a pool in Hebron. 
Then they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried 
it in a sepulchre. 

All the elders of Israel now came to David at 
Hebron and anointed him king over all Israel. He 
was thirty years old and was king for forty years. 
As soon as he was anointed king he went to Jeru¬ 
salem and took possession of the strong fort which 
was called Zion and which, ever afterwards, was 
called the City of David. His friend Hiram, king 
of Tyre, sent cedar trees and carpenters and masons 
and built David a beautiful house for his 
palace. Thus, David established himself king over 
Israel. 




232 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


All this time the ark of God was in the house of 
Abinidab that was in Gibeah. The time had come 
for the ark to be brought to Jerusalem. David 
gathered all the chosen men of Israel, as many as 
thirty thousand, and went after the ark to bring 
it to his city. They put it upon a new cart and the 
two sons of Abinidab drew the cart. 

As they brought the ark through the country, 
David and the people who were with him, played 
upon harps and trumpets and cornets and made 
music before the Lord. When they came to a place 
known as Nachon’s threshing floor, one of the sons 
of Abimelech, named Uzzah, put out his hand to 
steady the ark and took hold of it, for the oxen 
shook it and Uzzah was afraid it would fall. 

The anger of the Lord arose against Uzzah and 
He smote him dead by the side of the ark. When 
David saw what had happened he was afraid and 
carried the ark aside into the house of Obededom. 
The ark stayed in the house of Obededom for three 
months. While it was there the Lord blessed him 
and all his household. After that, David went and 
brought the ark into Jerusalem, and all the people 

of Israel shouted and played trumpets as the cart 

* * 

that drew the ark moved into Jerusalem. 

One day as the king sat in his house, the beauti¬ 
ful house which Hiram, king of Tyre had built for 




DAVID BECOMES KING 


233 


him, and the Lord had given him victory over all 
his enemies, he said to Nathan the prophet: “See, 
now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God 
has no temple nor any good house wherein it shall 
dwell.” 

It was in the heart of David to build a beautiful 
temple that should hold the ark. Nathan told him 
that the Lord was with him and he would let him 
know what the Lord said. That very night the 
word of the Lord came to Nathan in a dream, and 
this is what the Lord told Nathan to say to David: 

“Tell him that I and the ark are one and that it 
stands for my presence with the people of Israel 
and where it is, there I am. Tell him that I have 
not dwelt in any house since I brought the children 
of Israel out of Egypt but have been in a tent and 
a tabernacle. Tell David I took him from following 
sheep and made him ruler over my people and that 
I was with him wherever he went and gave him 
victory over his enemies and made him a great 
name.” 

The Lord told Nathan also to say to David that 
He would appoint a place for the people of Israel 
to live in and would plant them there, and that 
they should move no more and that their enemies 
should afflict them no more; that David himself 
should not build the temple to the Lord, but that 




234 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


after he was dead and buried with his fathers that 
one who came after him would build a great temple 
for the Lord and establish his kingdom forever. 

Nathan told all this vision to David. And King 
David went into his room and gave thanksgiving 
to the Lord, saying: “Let Thy name be magnified 
forever. The Lord God of Hosts is King over Israel 
and let the house of Thy servant David be 
established before Thee.” 

After this, David smote the Philistines and sub¬ 
dued them everywhere, and God gave him victory 
and dominion over all the land. When his enemies 
were subdued his heart turned to his friend, Jona¬ 
than, who had been slain in battle at the time his 
father was slain. One day David said: “Is there 
any living of the house of Saul, that I may show 
him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 

There was a servant of the house of Saul whose 
name was Ziba. They called him to David and the 
king said to him: “Is thy name Ziba?” and he 
answered: “My lord, that is my name.” 

“Is there any living of the house of Saul that I 
may show kindness unto him?” asked David of the 
servant. Ziba told him that Jonathan had a son who 
was lame on his feet. 

The son’s name was Mephibosheth. When he 
was five years old his nurse had taken him in her 




THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM 


235 


arms and was fleeing from the enemies of Saul, his 
father. As she was fleeing the boy fell from her 
arms and became lame ever afterwards. This was 
he, of whom Ziba spoke to David. 

David commanded Ziba to bring Mephibosheth 
* to him. When he was come, he bowed his face to 
the ground and did reverence to the king. 

“Fear not, for I will show you kindness for Jon¬ 
athan, your father’s sake, and will restore you the 
land of your father, and you shall eat at my table,” 
said David, in great kindness to the son of Jona¬ 
than. Mephibosheth bowed very low to the king 
and replied: “What is your servant that you should 
look upon him with such kindness and treat him in 
this way?” But David told him how he loved his 
father and now he wanted to do something for 
Jonathan’s son. 

So Mephibosheth came to live in the house of 
David and ate every day at his table and had serv¬ 
ants to wait upon him and lands were restored unto 
him, but all his life he went lame on both his feet. 

THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM 

David had a beautiful son named Absalom. In 
all Israel there was no one so much praised as Absa¬ 
lom for his beauty. From the crown of his head to 




236 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the sole of his foot there was not a blemish in him. 

But he was a rebellious son and did a great many 
things to grieve the heart of his father, King David. 
At last it came about that he dwelt in his 
own house and the king would not let him see his 
face. 

After two full years had passed and Absalom had 
not seen the king, he sent for Joab, the king’s cap¬ 
tain, but Joab would not come. He sent for Joab 
the second time and again he would not come. 
Then Absalom said to his servants: “Joab’s field is 
near mine and barley is growing there, go and set 
it on fire.” And Absalom’s servants set the field 
of Joab on fire. 

Joab hastened and came to Absalom and said to 
him: “Why have your servants set my field on fire? ” 

“I sent for you and you would not come, there¬ 
fore, I set your field on fire that you might come, 
for I would see the king’s face and if he finds any 
iniquity in me, let him kill me.” And Joab went 
and told the king what Absalom had said. Then 
David let Absalom see him and the young man fell 
on his face before the king and David lifted him 
from the ground and kissed him, because he was 
very fair and much beloved by his father. 

But Absalom was wicked in his heart and always 
rebellious against his father. He had for himself, 




THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM 


237 


chariots, horses, and fifty men who ran before him 
that he might make a great display of his rank. 
When he wanted to be popular with the people he 
would rise early in the day and stand by the gate 
of the city where the people came to have their 
causes judged. 

When any one would come with a complaint he 
would say to them: “Your matters are good and 
right and there is no one sent by the king to hear 
them. If I were made judge in the land then every 
man which had a suit or a cause could come to me 
and I would do him justice.” 

It also happened that when any man came near 
to Absalom and bowed before him as to a king’s 
son, then Absalom would put forth his hand to him 
and would kiss him. In this way Absalom won the 
hearts of the people of Israel and David did not 
know what Absalom was doing. 

After many years and much preparation on the 
part of Absalom, he said to the king: “Let me go 
and pay my vow in Hebron for I have made a vow 
that if the Lord should bring me to Jerusalem, I 
would serve Him.” The king said to Absalom: “Go 
in peace,” and the young man arose and went to 
Hebron.. 

But it was not Absalom’s intention to pay his 
vow in Hebron, as he had told his father. Instead, 





238 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


he sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel, saying: 
“As soon as you hear the sound of trumpets, then 
you shall say, Absalom reigns in Hebron/' The 
spies did their work well and the conspiracy against 
David became very strong and the followers of 
Absalom continually increased. 

The messenger came to David saying: “The 
hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom and 
there is a great conspiracy to make Absalom king 
over Israel. '' 

David was in great alarm at this news and said: 
“Arise, and let us flee for we shall not escape from 
Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake 
us suddenly and smite the city with the sword/' 
Then the king fled from Jerusalem, he and all his 
servants and many of the people and they crossed 
the brook Kedron and went into the wilderness. 

The priests and the Levites came after him, bring¬ 
ing the ark of the Lord, but David told them to 
take it back into the city so that the Lord would be 
kind to him and bring him back into the city. And 
when the ark had been sent back, David went over 
the mountain Olivet, weeping as he went with his 
head covered and barefoot, and all they that were 
with him went with covered heads and barefoot. 

After David had left Jerusalem, Absalom and his 
rebellious followers came and entered the city but 





THE DEATH OF ABSALOM 


239 


David and his followers passed over Jordan and 
came into the land of Gilead. All of his followers 
were weary with their long flight and when they 
had come to the city of Manhanaim, the people 
there brought beds for them to rest upon and also 
wheat and barley, and flour and honey and butter 
and other things to eat and David and his men 
ate and were refreshed after their long flight through 
the wilderness. 


THE DEATH OF ABSALOM 

Absalom gathered his army together and followed 
his father, and David knew that there was to be a 
battle between him and his son. He, therefore, 
numbered the people that were with him and set 
captains over them and he made Joab the chief 
captain. 

David himself knew that the hosts of Absalom 
were pursuing him and made ready for battle. He 
desired to go into battle himself but the people 
told him: 

“You shall not go into battle, for it matters not 
if we flee or if we die. You are worth ten thousand 
of us, therefore, sit here and preserve your life 
in case the battle goes against us and for 
Absalom,” 




240 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


“What seems best to you, I will do/' said the 
king simply, for he was an old man and much 
broken by the acts of his rebellious son. 

David sat by the side of the gate on the side of 
Manhanaim, and all the people came out by hun¬ 
dreds and thousands on their way to battle with 
the hosts of Absalom. The king called Joab and 
his other captains to him as they were passing and 
said to them: “Deal gently, for my sake, with the 
young man, Absalom/’ and the people heard what 
David said to the captains about Absalom, but 
Joab made no promises of what he would do. 

The battle was in the wood of Ephraim. The 
hosts of Absalom were slain before the servants of 
David and there was a great slaughter of twenty 
thousand men. The battle was scattered over the 
face of the country and many of the men of Absalom 
perished in the woods. 

Absalom fled from the soldiers of David. He rode 
upon a mule and the mule went under the thick 
boughs of a great oak. Absalom’s head was caught 
in the branches of the tree and he was held there 
between heaven and earth and the mule that was 
under him ran away, leaving him hanging by his 
head in the tree. 

A man saw him hanging there and ran to Joab, 
saying: “I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.” Joab 




THE DEATH OF ABSALOM 


241 


replied to him: “When you saw him, why did you 
not smite him to the ground? I would have given 
you ten shekels of silver and a girdle.” 

“Though I should receive a thousand shekels of 
silver, yet would I not put forth my hand against 
, the king’s son,” said the man. For all Israel had 
heard that David had asked that no one touch the 
young man Absalom. 

But Joab was not so careful of the king’s words. 
He left the man and came to the tree where Absa¬ 
lom was hanging. He took three darts in his hand 
and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while 
he was yet alive and hanging in the tree. The young 
men that were with Joab also smote Absalom until 
he was quite dead. Then Joab blew the trumpet 
and the people returned from pursuing after the 
hosts of Absalom and they all saw how Joab had 
slain the son of David. 

Then they took the body of Absalom and cast it 
into a great pit in the wood and covered it with a 
heap of stones and the men of Israel went back to 
their tents. 

King David was waiting at the gate of the city 
to hear news of the battle, and his thoughts were 
upon his son. Joab said to Cushi, one of his servants: 
“Go, tell the king what you have seen.” And Cushi 
bowed himself before Joab and started upon his 




242 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


mission. Another messenger named Ahimaaz said 
to Joab: “I pray you, let me run after Cushi that 
two of us may bear the message of the victory over 
the king’s enemies.” Joab said unto him also: “Go, 
tell the king what you have seen,” and Ahimaaz 
ran after Cushi. 

David sat between the two gates of the city. 
The watchman went up to the roof over the gate 
and saw a man running alone. He called down to 
the king what he saw and the king said: “If he be 
alone he is a messenger with tidings in his mouth.” 
And the messenger drew near. Then the watchman 
saw another man running and called to the king, 
and the king said: “He also brings tidings.” 

Ahimaaz had outrun Cushi and brought the mes¬ 
sage first to the king and said: “Blessed be the Lord 
which delivered up the men that lifted their hands 
against the king.” 

But the old David was not thinking of the vic¬ 
tory, and he said to the messenger: “Is the young 
man Absalom safe?” Ahimaaz answered: “Joab 
sent me with the message. I saw a great tumult 
and I knew not what it was and I do not know 
whether Absalom is safe or not.” Ahimaaz stood 
aside while Cushi ran toward the king. 

Cushi came and fell before the king and said: 
“Tidings, my lord, my king. God has avenged you 




SOLOMON BECOMES KING 


243 


this day of all them that rose up against you / 5 
But David was not thinking of his enemies and 
asked of this second messenger: “Is the young man 
Absalom safe ? 55 

Cushi bowed his head and tried to tell the news 
to David. At last he said: “May the enemies of 
my lord and king and all who rise against him to 
do him hurt be as that young man now is . 55 

Then David knew that Absalom was dead and 
his heart was bowed with grief. He rose from his 
seat and went up to the room over the gate and 
wept. As he went, he said: “O, my son Absalom, 
my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died 
for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 

SOLOMON BECOMES KING 

David was now old and feeble with the weight of 
his years. The time had come for him to appoint one 
of his sons to be king after him, and God had chosen 
Solomon to be king. Solomon was to be a man of 
wisdom, and peace, and was especially charged with 
building the temple in which the ark was to be 
placed. 

David had another son named Adonijah. This 
son said: “I will be king after my father is .dead, 
and so I will make myself king at once . 55 He pre- 





244 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


pared chariots and horsemen and men to run before 
him, and conferred "with Joab, the captain, and 
Abiathar, the priest, who promised to help him. 

Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle, 
and called his brothers, the king’s sons, and many 
of the people to a great feast, and they proclaimed 
Adonijah king. But Nathan, the prophet, and Sol¬ 
omon, his brother, he did not call to this feast. When 
Nathan heard what the people had done, and heard 
the cries of “God save King Adonijah!” he went 
to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, and said to 
her: “Have you heard that Adonijah has been made 
king by the people, and David knows nothing of it?” 

Bathsheba went to the king in his bedchamber, 
and the king was very old, Bathsheba bowed low 
and the king said: “What would you have?” 

“My lord, you swore once that my son, Solomon, 
should reign after you and sit upon your throne, 
but now Adonijah has been made king, and you 
know it not,” replied Bathsheba. 

“I knew it not,” said the king. “Solomon has 
been chosen by the Lord to be king after me. What 
else do you know?” 

“Adonijah has slain oxen and cattle and sheep 
and has called the sons of the king together, and 
Abiathar, the priest and Joab, the captain, but not 
Solomon nor Nathan,” said Bathsheba. Just then 




SOLOMON BECOMES KING 


245 


Nathan came before the king and told him the 
same thing that Bathsheba had told him. He also 
told the king that the people had made a great feast 
and were saying: “God save King Adonijah.” 

This did not please the old David, and he swore: 
“As the Lord liveth, Solomon shall reign after me, 
and shall sit upon my throne in my stead. This 
very day I shall do as the Lord commanded me 
toward Solomon.’' 

When Bathsheba heard these words she bowed 
very low, and said: “Let my lord, King David, 
reign forever.” 

Then David told Nathan to take the servants 
and go where Solomon was, and place him upon a 
mule that belonged to the king, and bring him down 
to Gihon. There Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, 
the prophet, were to anoint him king over Israel, 
and blow trumpets and say, “God save King 
Solomon.” 

“You shall then bring him to my house, and let 
him sit upon my throne for I have appointed him 
king over Israel and over Judah,” said David. 

They found Solomon, and the servants put him 
on a mule that belonged to the king and brought 
him to Gihon. Zadok, the priest, took a horn of 
oil out of the tabernacle and anointed him king, 
and all the people that were with them shouted: 





246 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


“God save King Solomon!” Indeed, there were so 
many people crying for Solomon, and playing upon 
pipes and shouting, that the air was full of noises 
and the earth shook with the sound. 

Adonijah and all the guests that were with him 
heard it as they were making an end of their eating. 
When Joab heard the trumpets he said: “Where¬ 
fore all this noise and the city being in an uproar?” 
And while he was speaking, the son of Abiathar 
came in, and Adonijah called out: ‘‘Your are a brave 
man and bring good tidings, I hope.” 

But the man answered with alarm: “Our lord, 
King David, has made Solomon king, and the people 
rejoice and cry, God save King Solomon, and that 
is the uproar in the city which you hear.” 

Adonijah and his guests were astonished and 
afraid and asked for more tidings. The man replied: 
“Solomon now sits on the throne of David, and the 
servants bow before him, and say: God make the 
name of Solomon greater than the name of David! 
And furthermore,” continued the son of the priest 
to those around him, “David himself has blessed 
this day when he has seen his son Solomon on his 
throne.” 

And then also, the guests that were with Adonijah 
were in great fear, and went every man his own way. 
Adonijah also feared, because of Solomon, and went 





THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON 


247 


and caught hold of the horns of the altar. Some 
one came to Solomon and said: 

“Adonijah has fled to the altar, and has caught 
hold of the horns of it for safety of his life and begs 
that Solomon will not slay him with a sword for 
* making himself king.” 

And Solomon told the men to tell Adonijah that 
he would not slay him if he would thereafter show 
himself to be a worthy man. 

The servants went and brought Adonijah from 
the altar and sat him before Solomon, and Adonijah 
bowed himself very low, and Solomon said: “Adon¬ 
ijah, my brother, I mean you no harm, if only here¬ 
after you be worthy. Go now to your own house.” 

THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON 

The days drew near when King David should die. 
His form was bent, his eye was dim, and his voice 
was low. He called Solomon to his side and said: 
“My son, I go the way of all the earth, but you 
must be strong and show yourself a man. Keep the 
charge of the Lord and walk in His ways, and keep 
His statutes and commandments that you may pros¬ 
per in whatever you do. If you will follow the 
words of the Lord, there shall not fail you one to 
sit on the throne of Israel.” 




248 _ HEROES OF ISRAEL _ 

Soon after David had said this to Solomon, he 
died and was buried. He had reigned forty years, 
seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in 
Jerusalem. And now Solomon sat on the throne of 
Israel and his kingdom was firmly established 
throughout all Israel. 

Solomon loved the Lord, and obeyed the statutes 
of David, his father. He sacrificed and offered burnt 
offerings on the mountains and in high places. He 
went to Gibeon to sacrifice, for there was a great 
high place there and he offered a thousand burnt 
offerings. 

In Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a 
dream by night and asked of him: “Ask what I 
shall give you.” 

Then Solomon answered the Lord in these words: 
“ 0, Lord, You have made me king in place of David, 
my father. I am but a little child, and I do not know 
how to go out or to come in. I am in the midst of a 
great people, therefore, give me an understanding 
heart to judge this people with wisdom, that I may 
decide between good and bad.” This speech pleased 
the Lord greatly, in that Solomon had asked for 
wisdom and an understanding heart. 

Then the Lord spoke to Solomon in his dream and 
said: “Because you have not asked for long life, 
nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but 





THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON 


249 


have asked for an understanding heart, I shall give 
to you the thing you have asked for. There shall 
be none like you for wisdom. Nor shall any one 
come after you that shall be wiser than you.” 

And that was not all the Lord promised Solomon. 
.He promised to give him honors and riches also, so 
that there should not be any like him among the 
kings of the earth. He promised that his life should 
be a long one and full of good works, and that his 
kingdom should be a great kingdom. Thus does 
the Lord reward those who seek wisdom and an 
understanding heart rather than the mere vanities 
of the world. 

Solomon awoke and went to Jerusalem and stood 
before the ark of the covenant, and offered burnt 
offerings and peace offerings to the Lord, and made 
a feast for all his servants. 

Soon the king had a chance to show the wisdom 
with which the Lord had blessed him. Two women 
came before the king and asked him to decide be¬ 
tween them as to which one owned a child. One of 
them said: “My lord, this woman and I live in the 
same house. My child was born while she was in 
the house, and three days after her child was also 
born, and there was no one else in the house with us.” 

The king waited while the woman told her story. 
She continued and said: “This woman's child died 




250 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


in the night, because she lay heavy upon it, but 
my child did not die. When she found that her 
child had died she rose at midnight and took my 
son from beside me while I slept and laid it in her 
own bed, and laid her dead child beside me while I 
was in a deep sleep and knew not what she did.” 

The woman stopped a while and the king listened: 
“When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, lo! 
a dead child laid beside me, and I knew it was not 
my child. She has my child, and the dead child was 
hers. O, my lord, and king, judge between us and 
restore me my child which this woman has taken.” 

But the other woman said: “My lord, the living 
child is my son, and not this woman’s son. I laid 
not the dead child in her bed. She claims my son 
for that her son is no more.” And then they dis¬ 
puted before the king, as to which one was the 
mother of the living child and which was the mother 
of the dead child. 

The king thought for a while and said to those 
around him: “Bring me a sword,” and they brought 
a sword to the king and showed it to him. 

Then said the king: “Divide the living child in 
two, and give half to one and half to the other of 
these women, for there is no way of telling to which 
one the child belongs. Let them share the child 
between them.” And the men took the sword and 





SOLOMON BUILDS THE TEMPLE 


251 


prepared to divide the child in two before the very 
eyes of the women. 

But one of the women sprang forward eagerly 
and cried out: “O, my lord, give her the living child, 
and in no wise slay it. Do not divide it but let her 
have it all, for the child would be dead to 
us both and my soul yearns that he should 
live.” 

The other woman cruelly said: “Divide the child 
with the sword. Let it be neither mine nor hers, 
but give each of us a share.” She knew her own 
child was dead and did not care whether this one 
lived or not. 

Solomon turned to his men and said: “Slay not 
the child, but give it to the woman who would spare 
its life. She is its mother, and not the one who would 
have it divided by the sword.” 

And all Israel heard of the judgment of Solomon, 
and they feared the king, for they saw the wisdom 
of God was in him to do justice. 

SOLOMON BUILDS THE TEMPLE 

Solomon was king over all Israel, and there was 
peace in the land. The people were many, like the 
sands of the sea, eating and drinking and making 
merry. And Solomon reigned over all the country 




252 


V 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


from Jordan to the land of the Philistines, and to 
the borders of Egypt. 

The king lived in great abundance for the Lord 
had given him riches. Every day the provisions for 
his household consisted of thirty measures of flour, 
sixty measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty 
taken from the pastures, a hundred sheep besides 
deer and fowl. By this we can see that a great 
crowd of servants and attendants waited on him 
continually. 

All Judah dwelt safely, every man under his vine 
and his fig tree all the way from Dan to Beersheba, 
for there was peace on all sides, even as the Lord 
had promised. 

Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for 
his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. These 
officers provided food for the king's table and for 
all that came to his house, so that every man had 
plenty and lacked for nothing, also they provided 
straw and barley for the horses and for the drome¬ 
daries which belonged to the king. 

God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding, so 
that his wisdom was greater than the wisdom of 
the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 
He was wiser than any other man, and his fame was 
in all the nations round about. He spoke three 
thousand proverbs or wise sayings, and over a thous- 




SOLOMON BUILDS THE TEMPLE 


253 


and songs. He spoke of trees, from the cedar of 
Lebanon down to the hyssop that grows out of the 
wall, and of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping 
things and of fishes. And people came from all 
parts to hear the wisdom of Solomon. 

The time had come for Solomon to obey the 
words of his father David and to set about building 
the temple even as the Lord had commanded. He 
sent word to Hiram, king of Tyre, saying: “You 
know how David, my father, could not build a house 
for the Lord, on account of the wars which were 
about him on all sides. But now the Lord has 
given me rest on every side, so that no enemy besets 
the people, and I purpose to build a house in the 
name of the Lord. Now, therefore, order your ser¬ 
vants to hew cedars out of Lebanon, and my ser¬ 
vants will be with your servants, and I will pay 
your servants for their work, for there is none 
among us skilled in hewing timber as your workmen.” 

When Hiram received the message, he rejoiced 
greatly and said: “Blessed be the Lord, who has 
given unto David a wise son over this great people. ” 
He then sent word back to Solomon that he would 
do all that the king wished him to do, in hewing the 
timber of cedar and the timber of fir. He said: 
“My servants will bring the trees down from Lebanon 
to the sea, and I will convey them in floats to the 




254 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


place which you shall appoint, and discharge them 
there for your servants to receive. You will pro¬ 
vide food for my household while they are engaged 
in the work.” 

So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees 
according as he needed them, and Solomon gave 
Hiram wheat and also oil, every year while the work 
was going on. And Hiram and Solomon made a 
league of peace between them while they were 
engaged in building the temple of the Lord. 

In order to provide men for the work, Solomon 
appointed thousands of his subjects and sent them 
into Lebanon to hew the timber. He also had thous¬ 
ands of burden bearers, and thousands of hewers 
of stones, all of whom labored unceasingly under 
the direction of those who knew how the temple was 
to be built. 

The temple which King Solomon was to build, 
was to be about one hundred feet long, thirty-three 
feet wide, and fifty feet high. This was not a large 
temple compared with many of the present day, 
but it was a great building in those days, and every 
part of it was costly and beautiful. In front of the 
temple was a porch with a top over it like a tower, 
about two hundred feet high. The temple also had 
narrow windows to give light inside, and rooms 
against the outside walls for the priests to live in, 




SOLOMON BUILDS THE TEMPLE 


255 


while they were attending to the duties of the 
temple. 

The temple was built of stone. Each stone had 
been carved in the mountains and made ready to 
fit in its place before it was brought down, so that 
. in the building there was no sound of hammer, or 
axe, or any tool of any kind, heard near the temple. 
It was built with as little noise as possible, for 
everything was made to fit before it was brought 
to its place. 

After the walls were built they were covered with 
cedar carved in the shapes of flowers and the flow¬ 
ers were covered over with gold. The floor of the 
temple and even the inside of the porch was also 
covered with gold. Inside the temple there was a 
curtain of blue, crimson, and purple, which was 
called the veil. It was hung in such a way that it 
divided the temple into two rooms. The innermost 
of these rooms was called the Most Holy Place and 
was designed for the ark of the covenant. 

The walls of the Most Holy Place were also cov¬ 
ered with wood which was carved into figures rep¬ 
resenting cherubim and shapes of palm trees and 
flowers. These also were covered with gold. Solo¬ 
mon also made two cherubim which were fifteen 
feet high, out of the wood of olive trees and these 
he covered with gold. They were in the Most Holy 




256 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Place and stood with their faces toward the wall 
and their wings outspread. 

The doors of the temple were made out of wood 
from the fir tree and upon them were carved most 
beautiful shapes covered with gold. 

In front of the house were two great pillars of 
brass, one on the right hand and one on the left 
hand. There was also a brass altar four times as 
large as the one that had been used for the taber¬ 
nacle. There was also a great basin which was made 
to rest on the backs of twelve brass oxen. This 

basin held the water for the priests to wash their 

* 

hands and their feet whenever they attended to the 
sacrifices. There were lavers of brass on the 
walls so they could be moved about and each 
would hold water for the sacrifice to be washed 
in. 

In addition to these there were ten golden candle¬ 
sticks to give light in the temple and there was a 
golden table to hold the shewbread, besides censers 
of gold and golden hinges for the doors. Around the 
temple there was a court in which was placed the 
altar for the burnt offerings and the great basin of 
brass and the ten lavers of brass. Outside of this 
there was still another court for the people them¬ 
selves. It took seven years to build this temple 
and when it was finished it was one of the great 




THE QUEEN OF SHEBA VISITS SOLOMON 257 


wonders of the world and the people of all nations 
knew about its magnificence. 

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA VISITS SOLOMON 

After the temple was finished, Solomon called all 
the elders and chief men that they might be there 
when the ark was brought into the temple. Then 
the priests took the ark and with great ceremony 
carried it into the temple, even unto the Most Holy 
Place, and set it under the wings of the cherubim. 
Inside the ark were still the two tablets of stone on 
which the ten commandments had been written. 
When the priests left the ark in the Most Holy Place 
a cloud filled the temple so that the priests could 
not go back into it for a while because the glory of 
the Lord filled all the place. 

Solomon now gave thanks to the Lord for help¬ 
ing him build this wonderful temple. Before all the 
people he knelt down and prayed that the Lord 
would answer all the prayers of the children of 
Israel. 

If the time should come when their enemies would 
be sent against them because of their sins, or if 
their fields should parch by not having rain, or if 
the seeds, and vines, and fruit they planted should 
not grow, or if any pestilence should come into the 




258 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


land and locusts and caterpillars eat the grain, or, 
indeed, if anything should happen to them because 
they had disobeyed the Lord, Solomon prayed that 
the Lord would forgive the people if they came to 
the temple and asked forgiveness. 

When the king had finished dedicating the temple, 
fire came down from heaven and burnt up all the 
offerings which he had placed upon the altar and 
the people saw the glory of God and bowed their 
faces to the ground. 

The queen of Sheba, which was a far off country, 
heard of the magnificent temple which Solomon had 
built, and of his wisdom and riches. She journeyed 
to Jerusalem with a great company of her people; 
with camels that bore spices and gold and precious 
stones. When she came to Solomon she talked to 
him about many things and asked him many ques¬ 
tions. Solomon answered all her questions and 
explained to her everything she asked about his 
God and his people. 

When the Queen of Sheba had seen the temple 
that Solomon had built and listened to his wise 
words and saw the number of his servants and the 
cup-bearers and the splendid way in which they 
were trained and the great quantities of food that 
were consumed at his table every day, she was 
astonished beyond measure. 




THE REVOLT OF THE TEN TRIBES 


259 


“It was a true report that I heard in my land of 
your acts and of your wisdom,” said she to Solo¬ 
mon. “I did not believe what I heard until I came 
and saw it with my own eyes. The half was not 
told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceeds far 
* more than I heard. Happy are the men and happy 
are the servants which stand continually before you 
and hear your wisdom.” The queen gave the king 
one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a great 
store of spices and precious stones. Indeed, no one 
gave Solomon such an abundance of spices as the 
Queen of Sheba gave him. 

King Solomon gave to the queen all that she 
asked and loaded her and her servants down with 
many presents. Then she returned to her own country. 


THE REVOLT OF THE TEN TRIBES 

King Solomon had many wives, according to the 
custom of those days. Many of them were heathen 
women, whom the Lord had forbidden the children 
of Israel to marry. It came to pass when Solomon 
was old that his heathen wives turned away his 
heart from God and made him worship idols, and 
even build a temple to worship them in. 

The Lord was angry with Solomon for disobeying 
His orders, and for going after heathen women and 





260 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


strange gods. Therefore, the Lord said to him: 
“ Since you have not kept my covenant and my 
statutes which I commanded you, I will surely rend 
the kingdom from you and give it to some one else. 
I will not do it while you live for David, your 
father’s sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of 
your son. I will leave him two tribes only for his 
kingdom, but the other tribes I will take from 
him.” 

Enemies began to rise and give trouble to Solo¬ 
mon. There was a young man named Jeroboam, 
who was a mighty man of valor. He was industrious 
and strong, so much so, that Solomon had put him 
in charge of important work. One day as he was 
going out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah met him 
in a field, and they two were alone. 

Ahijah caught the new garment that Jeroboam 
was wearing and tore it in twelve pieces. “Take 
ten pieces,” said the prophet to the young man, 
“for the Lord will take the kingdom out of the 
hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes.” 

He then told Jeroboam that the Lord was doing 
this because Solomon had turned to strange gods, 
but that He would not divide the kingdom until 
after Solomon was dead. He also told him that the 
son of Solomon should still keep two tribes and 
reign in Jerusalem, the city of David. 






THE REVOLT OF THE TEN TRIBES 


261 


When Solomon heard what the prophet had said, 
he tried to kill Jeroboam, but the young man arose 
and fled into Egypt and lived there until Solomon 
was dead. 

Solomon was king over Israel for forty years, and 
' when he died he was buried in Jerusalem. As soon 
as the king was dead the people sent word to Jere- 
boam in Egypt and he hastened to return to his 
own land. He and all the people went to Rehoboam, 
the son of Solomon, to make him king. They said 
to Rehoboam: 

“Your father made our yoke heavy. If you will 
make the burdens lighter and not treat us so harshly 
nor take our possessions for your own use, we will 
serve you.” 

Rehoboam was not ready with his answer, so he 
replied: “Leave me for three days and then come 
again and I will tell you what I will do.” And the 
people left him. 

Rehoboam sent first to the old men, who had 
stood by his father, Solomon, and asked them: 
“How do you advise that I answer this people?” 

“If you will serve this people, and speak good 
words to them, and promise to lighten their bur¬ 
dens, they will be your servants and subjects for¬ 
ever,” replied the old men, who knew how heavily 
the people had been burdened. 




262 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


But Rehoboam was a spoiled son, and did not 
like the advice of the old men. He sent for the 
young men that had grown up with him, and asked 
them: “What counsel do you give me to answer 
this people who want their burdens made 
lighter?” 

The young men were not wise and they advised 
Rehoboam to answer the people harshly and to 
show them no mercy and not to lighten their bur¬ 
dens. The advice was pleasant enough to the 
foolish man. 

On the third day the people returned for their 
answer. Rehoboam spoke to them roughly, saying: 
“My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add 
to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, 
but I will chastise you with scorpions.” 

The people went away dissatisfied. They said 
among themselves: “What have we under Reho¬ 
boam but burdens and taxes and heavy work? Let 
us have our own kingdom and select our own king 
and make our own laws.” And so ten tribes of 
Israel revolted from Rehoboam and made Jeroboam 
king over Israel, and went off by themselves, leav¬ 
ing Rehoboam in Jerusalem to reign over the tribe 
of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. And thus was 
the kingdom divided as the prophet had foretold to 
Jeroboam that day in the field. 




THE WICKEDNESS OF JEROBOAM 263 

As soon as Rehoboam saw that the ten tribes 
had left him, he sent Adoram to them, saying they 
must return to him and be his subjects and still 
pay the taxes. But the people of the tribes stoned 
the messenger until he was dead, which so alarmed 
Rehoboam that he hastened to shut himself up in 
Jerusalem for fear of the people. 

But Rehoboam was not going to let his kingdom 
leave him without a struggle. He assembled the 
house of Judah and the house of Benjamin, a great 
host of warriors to fight against the house of Israel 
and bring back the kingdom to himself. 

As he was ready to depart, a prophet came to 
him and said: “This thing is of the Lord, and it is 
His will that the kingdom be divided, and your 
valiant men cannot change His purpose. Go not 
up to fight against your brethren of Israel, but let 
every man return to his own home.” When Reho¬ 
boam heard these words he let his men depart to 
their homes and left Jeroboam to be king over the 
ten tribes of Israel as the Lord had said. 

THE WICKEDNESS OF JEROBOAM 

Now Jeroboam, king over the ten tribes that had 
revolted from Rehoboam, was worried for fear the 
people would return to their allegiance to the son 




264_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

of Solomon. He wished to remain king over Israel, 
and was afraid if the people went up to Jerusalem 
to worship in the great temple that Solomon had 
built, that they would forsake him and return to 
Rehoboam. 

Therefore, he made two calves of gold and set 
them up for the people to worship, one in Bethel 
and one in Dan. Then he said to the people: “It is 
too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem. Be¬ 
hold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out 
of the land of Egypt / 1 

And the foolish people went to Bethel and to Dan 
to worship the golden calves, which was a great sin 
in the sight of the Lord. Jeroboam built temples 
and made priests of the lowest of the people that 
were not Levites, and gave a great feast and offered 
sacrifices upon the altars of the heathen gods. He 
did this to keep the people from going to Jerusalem 
to worship God in the temple that Solomon had 
built. 

A man of God came from the tribe of Judah and 
stood by the heathen altar when Jeroboam was 
offering sacrifice. The man cried out aloud: “O, 
altar, altar, a child shall be born from the family 
of David and Josiah shall be his name. Upon this 
altar he shall offer a sacrifice, the priests of the 
high places and men's bones shall be burned here. 




THE WICKEDNESS OF JEROBOAM 


265 


The altar shall be broken and the ashes shall be 
scattered.” 

When Jeroboam heard these words of the man of 
God he stretched out his hand and said to those 
around him: “Lay hold on that man/ But his 
hand which he stretched out dried up so that he 
could not pull it in again to him. Then the altar 
was broken and the ashes were scattered even as 
the man of God had said. 

Then Jeroboam begged the prophet: “Pray for 
me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And 
the man of God prayed to the Lord, and the king’s 
hand was restored to him, and became as it was 
before. 

Jeroboam then begged the man to go with him 
and refresh himself and accept a reward. But the 
prophet replied: “If you were to give me half the 
riches of your house, I would not go with you nor 
eat bread nor drink water in this place, for the 
Lord charged me not to eat nor drink nor rest while 
I was here.” And the prophet turned and went 
back to his own land. 

There was also an old prophet who lived in Bethel. 
His sons came to him and told him what the man 
of God had done that day. The old prophet then 
said to his sons: “Which way went he?” And his 
sons told him the way the man of God had gone. 




266 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


The old prophet then said: “Saddle me the ass.” 
And his sons brought him the ass with a saddle on 
it, and the old prophet rode after the man of God. 

He found him sitting under an oak and the old 
prophet said to him: “Are you the man of God 
that came from Judah?” and he answered: “I am.” 

“Come home with me and eat bread,” said the 
old prophet. “I will not return with you, nor eat 
bread nor drink water, nor rest, while I am in this 
place, for the Lord commanded me not to do so,” 
replied the man of God. 

Then the prophet said: “I am a prophet as you 
are, and an angel spoke to me saying that I should 
bring you back and that you should eat bread and 
drink water in my house.” The prophet was telling 
a falsehood, but the man of God believed him, and 
went back to his house and ate and drank with him. 

As they sat at the table the Lord made the old 
prophet say to the man of God: “You have dis¬ 
obeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept 
His commandments. You have comeback, and have 
eaten bread and have drunk water and have rested 
in this place.” Then the old prophet saddled the 
ass and put the man of God on it and sent him away. 

When the man was on his way back to Judah, a 
lion met him and slew him. The lion did not eat 
his dead body but stood by it, and the ass did also. 




ELIJAH BEGINS HIS MINISTRY 


267 


Some men passed by and saw the dead man’s body 
and the lion and the ass standing by it, and they 
went and told the old prophet in Bethel what they 
had seen. 

“It is the man of God who disobeyed the word 
' of the Lord. Therefore, the lion has slain him by 
the way,” said the old prophet. Then he told his 
sons to saddle the ass and the old prophet rode to 
the place where the man of God was lying and 
brought back his body to Bethel where he buried 
it in the prophet’s own sepulchre. 

ELIJAH BEGINS HIS MINISTRY 

After Jeroboam died, there were many kings of 
Israel, but none so wicked as Ahab. He married a 
heathen woman, named Jezebel, and worshiped gods 
and built temples for them which provoked the 
anger of the Lord against Ahab more so than against 
all the kings of Israel that were before him. 

There was a prophet named Elijah. The Lord 
told him to say to Ahab: “There shall not be dew 
nor rain upon the land these years except as I say.” 
The Lord then told Elijah to get up and go east¬ 
ward and hide himself by a brook named Cherith. 
There he should drink of the water of the brook 
and the ravens would come and feed him. Elijah 




268 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


did as the Lord commanded him and went and sat 
by the brook. In the morning the ravens brought 
him bread and meat and also in the evening. 

After a while the brook dried up because there was 
no rain in the land. Then the Lord said to Elijah: 
“Go to Zarehath and there you will find a widow, 
whom I have commanded to take care of you.” 

Elijah arose and went to Zarehath. When he 
came to the gate of the city the woman met him 
and she was gathering sticks. Elijah called to her 
and said: “Bring, I pray you, a little water in a 
vessel that I may drink, and a little morsel of bread 
in your hand.” 

“As the Lord liveth,” replied the woman, “I 
have not a cake but only a handful of meal in a 
barrel and a little oil in a cruse. I am gathering 
sticks that I may go in and prepare it for me and 
my son that we may eat it and die, for we are near 
starving to death.” Elijah said to the woman: 
“Have no fear, but go and do as you have said. 
But first make me a little cake and bring it to me, 
and afterwards make for yourself and your son.” 

The woman was astonished at the words of the 
prophet, because there was not enough to do this 
but Elijah looked at her and said: “The barrel of 
meal shall not waste nor shall the cruse of oil fail 
until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the 




ELIJAH DESTROYS THE PROPHETS OF BAAL 269 


earth.” And the woman went and did as Elijah 
commanded her, and she and her son had enough to 
eat for many days. The meal did not give out nor 
did the oil fail, just as the prophet had said. 

Now it happened that the son of the woman fell 
. sick and died and his mother was sore distressed. 
She cried out to Elijah and begged him to help her. 

Eli j ah said to her: ‘ ‘ Give me thy son. '' Then £he took 
him and carried him in to the loft,which was theproph- 
et's room, and laid him upon the bed. And the proph¬ 
et prayed to the Lord that theson might be spared. 

After that Elijah stretched himself upon the child 
three times, saying: “Lord, I pray you, let this child's 
soul come into him again.” The Lord heard the 
voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came into 
him again and he was alive. 

Elijah took the child and brought him down into 
the house and gave him to his mother, saying to 
her: “See, your son lives.” 

The woman fell on her knees before Elijah and 
cried out in her joy: “Now I know you are a man of 
God and the word of the Lord is in your mouth.” 


ELIJAH DESTROYS THE PROPHETS OF BAAL 

There was a terrible famine in the land, because 
no rain had fallen for a long time. Ahab knew that 




270 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the curse of Elijah was upon him and the land, and 
he sought to find him. At last Ahab met Elijah 
and said to him: “Are you he that troubles 
Israel?” 

But Elijah answered: “I have not troubled Israel. 
But you have done so in that you have forsaken 
the commandments of the Lord and have wor¬ 
shiped heathen gods.” 

Elijah told Ahab to gather the prophets of Baal, 
four hundred and fifty in number and the prophets 
of the grove, four hundred in number, all of whom 
ate at the table of the wicked Jezebel, and bring 
them to Mount Carmel. Ahab did as Elijah com¬ 
manded him and all the heathen prophets came to 
Mount Carmel where Elijah was. 

Many people came together at the time to see 
what Elijah was going to do. Elijah stood up and 
said: “How long halt ye between two opinions? 
If the Lord is God, follow Him; if Baal is God, fol¬ 
low him.” But the people answered him not a 
word. 

“I, even I, am the only prophet of the Lord that 
is here, but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and 
fifty men, as you see,” said Elijah to the people. 
“Give us two bullocks, let these false prophets take 
one bullock and cut it in pieces and lay it on wood 
and put no fire under it. I will dress the other bul- 




ELIJAH DESTROYS THE PROPHETS OF BAAL 271 


lock and lay it on wood and put no fire under 
it. Let the prophets of Baal call on their 
gods and I will call on the name of the Lord. 
The god that answers by fire, let him be 
God.” 

When the people heard these words of Elijah, 
they answered: “It is well spoken. Let us have a 
trial and see who is the true God.” 

The prophets took the bullock that was given 
them and they dressed it and laid it on the wood 
and put no fire under it. Then they called on the 
name of their god and prayed him to send fire 
to burn the bullock. They leaped upon the 
altar, and danced round it but there was no 
answer. 

Elijah mocked them and said: “Cry aloud, for 
Baal is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, 
or he is on a journey, or perhaps he may be asleep 
and must be awakened.” 

The prophets cried aloud and cut themselves with 
knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon 
them but there was no voice and no answer to their 
prayers. 

Elijah said to the people: “Come near to me,” 
and they came near to him. Then he took twelve 
stones and with them he built an altar in the name 
of the Lord and made a trench around the altar. 





272 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


He put the wood in order and cut the bullock in 
pieces and laid it on the wood. 

He said to those around him: “Fill four barrels 
of water and pour on the burnt sacrifice and on the 
wood.” After they had done that, he said: “Do it a 
second time,” and they did it a second time. He 
said: “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third 
time. The water ran around about the altar and 
filled the trench. 

* 

Then Elijah called to the Lord and said: “God of 
Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this 
day that You are the true God, and I am Thy servant 
and that I have done all these things in Your name.” 

The fire came down from heaven and consumed 
the bullock and the wood and the stones of the 
altar and licked up the water that was in the trench. 
When the people saw it they bowed themselves to 
the ground and said: “The Lord, He is God; the 
Lord, He is God!” 

Then Elijah said to them: “Take the prophets of 
Baal, let not one of them escape.” And they took 
them and Elijah brought them down to the brook 
of Kishon and slew them there. 

Then Elijah said to Ahab: “Get you to your house 
and eat and drink, for it shall rain, and there shall 
be no more famine.” And in a short while there was 
a great rain, even as the prophet had said. 




ELISHA IS MADE A PROPHET 


273 


ELISHA IS MADE A PROPHET 

When Ahab returned to his home and told the 
wicked Jezebel what Elijah had done and how he 
had slain the prophets with the sword, Jezebel was 
exceedingly angry. She sent a messenger to Elijah, 
saying: “May the gods destroy me if I do not make 
your life as the life of one of the dead prophets by 
tomorrow about this time.” This threat meant that 
she intended to kill Elijah if she could. 

When Elijah received this message, he hastened 
to go to Beersheba. Leaving his servant he went a 
day’s journey into the wilderness and sat down 
under a juniper tree and said to himself: “It is 
enough, now, O Lord; take away my life, for the 
wicked Jezebel pursues me and will slay me if she 
can find me.” 

Soon he fell asleep under the juniper tree. An 
angel appeared to him and touched him and said 
to him: “Elijah, arise and eat.” 

Elijah looked around and saw a cake baked on 
the coals and a cruse of oil on the ground near his 
head. He ate the cake and drank the water and laid 
down again and slept. 




274 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


The angel came again the second time and touched 
him and said: “Elijah, arise and eat, because the 
journey is too great for you.” Elijah awoke from 
his sleep and ate the cake and drank the water and 
then he went in the strength of that food for forty 
days and forty nights, till he came to Mount Horeb. 

He entered into a cave and lived there and the 
word of the Lord came to him and said: “What are 
you doing there, Elijah? 7 ’ 

“I have been jealous for the Lord,” replied Eli¬ 
jah, “and the children of Israel have forsaken His 
commandments and thrown down His altars and 
slain His prophets and I am the only one that is 
left and now they seek my life to take it away.” 

Then the Lord said: “Go forth from the cave, 
Elijah, and stand upon the mount,” and Elijah went 
forth and stoop upon the mount as the Lord had 
directed. Then the Lord passed by and a great wind 
shook the mountain and broke in pieces the rocks, 
but the Lord was not in the wind. 

After that there was a terrible earthquake and all 
the earth shook and split in pieces, but the Lord 
was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake 
there came a great fire, but the Lord was not in the 
fire. After the fire came a still small voice and 
Elijah stood and listened to what the voice said 
to him. 





ELISHA IS MADE A PROPHET 


275 


When Elijah heard the small voice speaking to 
him he wrapped his face in his mantle and went 
and stood near the entrance of the cave and the 
still small voice said to him: “What are you doing 
here, Elijah? ” 

“I have been very jealous for the Lord,” said 
Elijah, even as he had said before, “but the child¬ 
ren of Israel have forsaken the commandments of 
the Lord and thrown down the altars and slain the 
prophets and I am the only one that is left and 
they seek my life to take it away.” 

Now the still small voice was the word of the 
Lord speaking to Elijah and it said to him: “Go 
on your way to the wilderness of Damascus and 
when you come there anoint Hazael to be king over 
Israel. Elisha you shall anoint to be prophet in 
your place after you are gone.” 

The Lord told Elijah not to be discouraged for 
there were yet seven thousand men in Israel who 
had not bowed their knees unto Baal, the heathen 
god. He promised Elijah to take care of him and 
told him to keep on prophesying for the Lord would 
take care of His own. 

Then Elijah disappeared, to do as the Lord said. 
As he was going on his way he found Elisha plow¬ 
ing in a field with twelve yoke of oxen before him, 
and with him were eleven others, each with a yoke 




276 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


of oxen and Elisha was with the last yoke. When 
Elijah passed by and looked upon Elisha, he knew 
he was the man whom the Lord had chosen to be 
prophet. 

Elijah took off his cloak or mantle which he had 
around him and laid it across the shoulders of Elisha 
and Elisha knew by this token that he was chosen 
to be a prophet. Elisha then left the oxen in the 
field and went after Elijah saying: “Let me kiss 
my father and my mother and then I will follow 
you.” And Elijah told him to do so. Then Elisha 
took his yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled 
their flesh with the plowshares that he had and 
gave the flesh to the others to eat. Then he arose 
and went after Elijah and became his servant. 


THE DEATH OF AHAB 

The king of Syria, named Ben Hadad, gathered 
all his men together and went up to besiege Samaria, 
the capital of Israel, and to make war against Ahab 
and his people. He sent messengers to Ahab to tell 
him that all the silver and gold that he had and the 
wives and the children and everything else that was 
good in his land belonged to the king of Syria and 
that he was going to take it. 




THE DEATH OF AHAB 


277 


The hosts of Ahab and the hosts of Ben Hadad 
then gathered for war and for three years there was 
strife between Syria and Israel. 

There was a man named Naboth who lived in 
Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab in Samaria. This 
* man had a vineyard which Ahab greatly desired. 

Ahab sent word to Naboth, saying: “Give me your 
vineyard that I may have it for a garden of herbs, 
because it is near my house and I will give you a 
better vineyard or I will give you its worth in money. ’ ' 

But Naboth did not wish to sell his vineyard and 
sent word back to Ahab: “The vineyard is an inherit¬ 
ance of my father and I would not part with it.” 

When Ahab received his reply he was much dis¬ 
pleased and laid down upon his bed and turned 
away his face and would not eat. Jezebel, his wife, 
came to him and said: “Why is your spirit so sad 
that you eat no bread, my lord?” 

“I spoke unto Naboth, of Jezreel, and asked him 
to give me his vineyard or else to sell it to me. 
He would neither give it to me nor sell it to me,” 
replied Ahab to his wife. 

“Do you not govern this kingdom of Israel? 
Why should you be displeased for such a small 
matter? Arise and eat bread and let your heart 
be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth, 
the Jezreelite,” said Jezebel to Ahab. 





278 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Now Jezebel was a wicked woman and was always 
stirring up her husband to evil deeds. She never 
hesitated to do evil things to gain her way, so she 
wrote letters in Ahab’s name and put his seal upon 
them. She sent these letters to the elders and 
nobles that were in Jezreel where Naboth lived and 
told the elders to proclaim a feast and set Naboth 
on high among the people and to get two men who 
were willing to bear false witness against Naboth 
and to say that he blasphemed against God and 
the king. 

The elders and nobles did as Jezebel directed. 
They proclaimed a feast and set Naboth on high 
among the people. The two men came in and sat 
before him. They then rose and declared that 
Naboth had blasphemed God and the king. Then 
the elders and the nobles took Naboth out of the 
city and stoned him with stones until he died, even 
as Jezebel had told them to do. 

When Jezebel had received word that Naboth was 
dead she went to Ahab and said to him: “You may 
take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the 
Jezreelite, which he refused to give you or to sell 
you, for now he is dead.” And Ahab went down to 
the vineyard and took possession of it. 

When Elijah heard how the wicked Jezebel had 
acted and that Ahab had taken possession of Na- 




THE DEATH OF AHAB 


279 


both’s vineyard, he went down to Samaria and 
found Ahab in possession of the vineyard. The 
prophet then spoke to him harshly: 

“You have killed Naboth and taken his vineyard. 
I tell you in the name of the Lord that in the place 
where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall the 
dogs also lick your blood, you wicked king.” 

Ahab was overcome with the words of Elijah and 
cried out: “Have you found me, oh, my enemy?” 
Elijah answered: “Yes, I have found you. You 
have worked an evil in the sight of the Lord and I 
will bring evil upon you and upon Jezebel. The 
dogs shall eat the flesh of the wicked Jezebel by the 
wall of Jezreel and calamity shall befall all of your 
house.” Ahab was so overcome by the words of 
the prophet that he tore his clothes and put sack¬ 
cloth upon his body for he knew that Elijah was a 
prophet and the words that he spoke would some 
day come true. 

The war between Syria and Israel was going on. 
In the third year of the war Jehosaphat, the king 
of Judah, came down to help Ahab, the king of 
Israel. Together with their men they went up to 
Rehmoth, in Gilead, to give battle to the hosts of 
the Syrians. 

Now the king of Syria had commanded all his 
captains to kill Ahab and Ahab knew that the 




280 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


king of Syria had told this to his captains, there¬ 
fore, was Ahab much afraid of his life. So he said 
to Jehosaphat: “I will disguise myself and enter 
into the battle so that they will not know who I 
am. You put on my robes so that they will think you 
are Ahab.” And Jehosaphat put on the robes of 
Ahab and went forth to battle. 

When the captains of the Syrians saw Jehosaphat 
in battle they said: “There is the king of Israel, 
whom we are commanded to kill,” and they pursued 
Jehosaphat. As they pursued him Jehosaphat cried 
out that it was he and not Ahab, whom they sought. 
Then the captains ceased from pursuing Jehosaphat 
and turned again to find Ahab. 

Ahab was fighting in a distant part of the field 
in disguise and he was in his chariot. A soldier of 
the Syrians drew his bow and shot at a venture 
and his arrow went between the joints of the armor 
of King Ahab and wounded him. Ahab said to the 
driver of his chariot: “Take me out of the battle, 
for I am sorely wounded.” 

The battle was going on furiously and the driver 
of the chariot held King Ahab up in his arms but 
the blood ran out of his wound and covered the 
floor of the chariot. At last, about the time the 
sun went down, the battle went against Israel. 
Word came that every man should flee to his own 




THE SICKNESS OF AHAZIAH 


281 


home and Israel fled, every man to his own city 
and to his own country. 

Ahab died of his wound and was brought to 
Samaria and there they buried him. They took the 
king’s chariot to the pool of Samaria and washed it 
and as they were washing it the dogs came and 
licked the blood off the chariot and from the king’s 
armor, even as the prophet had spoken. 


THE SICKNESS OF AHAZIAH 

After Ahab was buried, his son, Ahaziah, became 
king. Now it happened that Ahaziah fell out of his win¬ 
dow in Samaria and was sobadly hurt that he was about 
to die. He told his messengers to inquire of Baalzebub, 
the heathen god, if he should recover of his sickness. 

As the messengers were going to inquire of the 
heathen god they met Elijah, the prophet, and 
Elijah spoke sternly to them and said: “Is there no 
God in Israel? Why should you go to Baalzebub, 
the heathen god? You may tell your king that the 
Lord says that he shall not arise from the bed of 
sickness upon which he lies but that he shall die,” 
and then Elijah departed. 

The messengers came back to Ahaziah, and the 
king said to them: “Why have you returned and 
what did Baalzebub say?” 




282 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


“ There came a man who met us,” replied the 
messengers, “and the man said that there was a 
God in Israel and that we should not inquire of 
Baalzebub, the heathen god, and he also said that 
the king should not arise from his bed but should die.” 

When Ahaziah heard this he asked: “What kind 
of a man was it that met you and said these things? ” 
The messengers told him that he was a hairy man, 
that wore a girdle and leather about his waist. 
Then the king knew it was Elijah, the prophet. 

The king sent a captain with fifty men to bring 
Elijah to him. They found the prophet sitting 
upon the top of a hill. The captain called out to 
him: “You man of God, the king says come down.” 
Elijah replied to the captain of the fifty men: “If 
I am a man of God let fire come down from heaven 
and consume you and your fifty men.” Then fire 
came from heaven and consumed the men. 

Again Ahaziah sent another captain with fifty 
men and when he had found Elijah, he also said to 
him: “Come down quickly, 0 man of God.” 

“If I am a man of God, let fire come down from 
heaven and consume you and your fifty men,” 
replied the prophet. And again fire came down 
from heaven and consumed the men. 

The third time Ahaziah sent the captain with 
fifty men to take Elijah but this captain fell on his 





THE LAST DAYS OF ELIJAH 


283 


knees before the prophet and prayed to him, saying: 
“O, man of God, let my life and the lives of these 
fifty men be precious in thy sight/’ The angel of 
the Lord told Elijah to spare these men and to go 
with the captain to Ahaziah. 

When Elijah came to Ahaziah upon his bed of 
sickness he said to him: “Inasmuch as you sent 
messengers to ask Baalzebub whether you should 
die or not and did not send to the true God, there¬ 
fore, I tell you, you shall not arise from your bed of 
sickness but you shall surely die.” 

And so it was as the prophet had said, for Ahaziah 
died and was buried and his son, Jehoram, reigned 
in his place. 

THE LAST DAYS OF ELIJAH 

The time had come for Elijah to be taken to 
heaven. He went with Elisha out of Gilgal, the 
place where they were staying. As they were jour¬ 
neying, Elijah said to Elisha: “Tarry here, I pray 
you, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But 
Elisha said: “I will not leave you.” So they two 
went on to Bethel. 

When they came to Bethel, Elijah said again to 
Elisha: “Tarry here, I pray you, for the Lord has 
sent me to Jericho.” But Elisha answered: “I will 




284 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


not leave you,” and so they two came to Jericho. 

When they came to Jericho, Elijah said again to 
Elisha: “Tarry here, I pray you, for the Lord has 
sent me to Jordan,” but Elisha answered again: 
“I will not leave you,” and so they two went on to 
Jordan. When they came to Jordan there were 
fifty men of the sons of the prophets who stood 
afar off and watched them. 

Elijah took his mantle and smote the waters of 
the river and they were divided so that the prophets 
went over on dry ground. When they had gone 
over, Elijah said to Elisha: “Ask what I shall do 
for you before I am taken away.” 

Elisha looked upon his master and said: “I pray 
you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon 
me.” 

“You have asked a hard thing,” replied Elijah, 
“however, if you see me when I am taken away it 
shall be as you ask, but if you do not see me when 
I am taken away, it shall not be as you ask.” 

As they stood and talked, behold, there came a 
chariot of fire and horses of fire and Elijah was 
caught up in the chariot and went up by a whirlwind 
into heaven. 

When Elisha saw Elijah depart, he cried aloud: 
“My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and 
the horsemen thereof!” Then he saw Elijah no more 




THE LAST DAYS OF ELIJAH_285 

and so great was his grief that he tore his clothes 
in pieces. 

When he journeyed back to Jordan he took the 
mantle of Elijah and smote the waters of the river 
and again they parted and Elisha went over on dry 
ground. 

When he came to the place where the sons of the 
prophets were, they bowed themselves before Elisha 
and said: “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha 
and he is now our prophet.” 

When they came to Jericho, the men of that place 
said to Elisha: “The situation of this city is pleas¬ 
ant but the water is not good to drink and the 
ground is barren so that nothing will grow.” 

“Bring me a new cruse and put salt in it,” re¬ 
plied the prophet, and they brought it to him. He 
then went to the spring of the waters and .cast salt 
into the spring and said: “Thus, saith the Lord, I 
have healed these waters. There shall not be any 
more death from them or any barren land.” 

So the waters of Jericho were made pure and 
sweet and remained so according to the words of 
the prophet Elisha. 

The prophet journeyed from Jericho up to Bethel. 
As he was going by the way, there came little child¬ 
ren out of the city and mocked him. They said to 
the old prophet: “Go up, thou bald head; go up, 




286 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


thou bald head.” And Elisha turned and looked at 
them and called on the Lord to punish them. 

There came two she-bears out of the wood 
and tore forty-two of the children as a punish¬ 
ment for making sport of the prophet of the 
Lord. 


THE MIRACLES OF ELISHA 

Jehoram, the son of Ahab, was now king over 
Israel. While he was king the Moabites rebelled 
against Israel and came against Jehoram with a 
large host. 

Jehoram sent to Jehosaphat, who was king of 
Judah, and said: “The king of Moab has rebelled 
against me. Will you go with me against him to 
battle?” And Jehosaphat sent back the answer that 
he would go. So the king of Israel and the king of 
Judah journeyed into the wilderness to meet their 
enemies and they went a seven-day’s journey. There 
was no water for the men or for the cattle that fol¬ 
lowed them and they were much distressed. 

Jehosaphat said: “Is there not here a prophet of 
the Lord that we may inquire of him what to do?” 
One of Jehosaphat’s servants answered and said: 
“Elisha is here, the servant of Elijah, upon whom 
his mantle has fallen.” And the king went to Elisha 




THE MIRACLES OF ELISHA 


287 


and asked him what to do to keep the people and 
the cattle from dying of thirst. 

Now Jehosaphat was a godly man and served 
the Lord. So Elisha said to Jehoram, the king of 
Israel: “I have no regard for you, for you are a 
wicked king, but since Jehosaphat, the king of 
Judah, is a godly man I will save this army from 
destruction.’ ’ 

The prophet then told the kings to bring him a 
minstrel, and as the minstrel played upon the harp 
he began to prophesy and said: “Make the valley 
full of ditches for there shall be no wind nor rain, 
yet that valley shall be filled with water that you 
may drink, you and your cattle, and the Lord will 
deliver the Moabites into your hand.” 

The kings went back to their tents and when they 
arose in the morning and looked in the valley, 
behold, the country was filled with water, even as 
though it had rained. 

Now the Moabites heard that the kings had come 
up to fight against them and so they gathered and 
marched against the hosts of Judah and Israel. 
When they reached the valley early in the morning 
they saw the sun shining upon the water in the 
ditchesand the Moabites saw the water as red as blood. 

“This is blood; the kings are surely slain; they 
have smitten one another; now, therefore, Moab, 




288 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


hasten and gather in the spoil/’ cried all the men of 
Moab. But the Israelites had only withdrawn a 
short ways off and when the Moabites came near 
the camp the Israelites arose and fell upon the 
Moabites so that they fled before them. 

They followed them into their own country and 
beat down their cities and despoiled the land and 
filled up the wells and cut down the trees. Thus 
was the kingdom of Israel saved from the Moabites. 

There was a woman who was a widow of one of 
the sons of the prophets who came unto Elisha, 
and said: “My husband is dead and you know he 
did fear the Lord. The man to whom he owed 
money has come to take my two sons. What shall 
I do to save myself and my household ?” Elisha 
then asked her what she had in her house and the 
widow told him that she had nothing but a pot of oil. 

“Go, borrow vessels of thy neighbors, even empty 
vessels, and borrow not a few,” said the prophet to 
her. “And when you have them, shut the door of 
your house and pour oil into the empty vessels out 
of the little pot which you have.” 

The widow went from the prophet and borrowed 
empty vessels of her neighbors and took them to 
her house and shut the door. She began to pour oil 
out of her pot into the empty vessels until the ves¬ 
sels were full. The oil did not fail to keep on coming 




THE MIRACLES OF ELISHA 


289 


so long as there was a vessel to be filled. Finally 
she said to one of her sons: “Bring me yet another 
vessel,” and he told her there were no more vessels 
and all were full. 

Then the widow went to Elisha and told him 
what had happened, and Elisha said to her: “Go, 
sell the oil and pay your debt and you and your 
children shall live on the rest.” 

One time, as Elisha journeyed through the land, 
he came to Shunem, a great city. There lived here 
a rich woman who begged him to stop at her house 
and eat of her food. She was very kind to Elisha 
so that whenever he passed that way he always 
stopped and ate of her food. 

The woman said to her husband: “I see that this 
is a holy man of God who passes our way. Let us 
make a little room and set for him a bed and a table 
and a stool and a candlestick, so that it shall be his 
room that he may turn into it whenever he comes 
this way.” And so they made a room for the 
prophet. 

One day as he lay in the room, he said to Gehazi, 
his servant: “Call this Shunamite woman.” When 
she came to the prophet he said to her: “You have 
taken good care of my servant and of me. What 
may I do for you? Would you have me speak to 
the king or to the captain of the host for you?” 




290 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


The woman answered: “I dwell among my own 
people. There is nothing my lord can do for me,” 
and the Shunamite departed. 

After she had left, Gehazi said to Elisha: “She 
has no child, and if the Lord would send her a son, 
it would be well.” And the prophet told Gehazi to 
call the woman back. 

When she came to Elisha he said to her: “The 
Lord will send you a son,” and the woman rejoiced, 
and after a while a son was born and grew up to be 
a lad. 

One day when the lad was out in the 
field with the reapers he was overcome and said 
to his father: “My head, my head!” They took 
the lad to his mother and put him in her lap and 
there, after a few hours, he died. After he was dead 
she took him up into the room of the man of God 
and laid him on the bed and shut the door and 
went out. 

The Shunamite woman hastened to find Elisha, 
who was on Mount Carmel. She told him her child 
was dead. Elisha arose and followed her and when 
they came into the house he saw that the child was 
dead, and laid upon his bed. Elisha went in and 
shut the door and prayed to the Lord. He then 
laid down by the side of the child and put his mouth 
and his eyes upon the child’s mouth and eyes and 




NAAMAN IS CURED OF HIS LEPROSY 291 


his hands upon the child’s hands. After a while the 
flesh of the child became warm and life returned to 
him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his 
eyes. Elisha called his servant Gehazi and said to 
him: “Call the Shunamite woman.” Gehazi called 
' her and she came in. When she saw her son alive 
she fell at the feet of the prophet in thankfulness. 
She then took her son and went her way. 

NAAMAN IS CURED OF HIS LEPROSY 

Naaman was captain of the host of the king of 
Syria and was a mighty man with his master. He 
was honored in the land because he was a mighty 
man of valor but he was a leper. 

One time when a company of Syrians had gone 
out to fight the people of Israel they brought away 
captive a little maid from the land of Israel and she 
waited on Naaman’s wife. One day she said to her 
mistress: “I would that my lord was with the 
prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover 
him of his leprosy.” 

Some one went and told Naaman and said to 
him: “There is a maid of Israel whom the Syrians 
brought away captive and she says there is a pro¬ 
phet in the land of Samaria who can cure my lord 
of his leprosy.” 





292_HEROES OF ISRAEL_ 

When the king of Syria had heard what the 
maid of Israel had said, he called Naaman and said 
to him: “I will send a letter to the king of Israel, 
and also some presents, that he may cure the cap¬ 
tain of my host of his leprosy/ ’ And Naaman de¬ 
parted, taking ten talents of silver, six thousand 
pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 

Naaman brought the letter to the king of Israel. 
The king opened the letter and in it read that the 
king of Syria had sent his servant Naaman to him 
that the king of Israel might cure him of his leprosy. 
But the king of Israel himself had no such power, 
for that belonged to the prophet of the Lord only. 

When the king of Israel had read the letter from 
the king of Syria, he said to Naaman and those 
around him: “Am I a god to kill and make alive, 
that the king of Syria sends his servant unto me 
to cure him of his leprosy? I think he seeks to make 
a quarrel with me, for he knows I cannot cure 
leprosy,” and the king was much annoyed at the 
letter he had received. 

Elisha, the prophet, heard that the king of Syria 
had sent his captain, Naaman, to the king of Israel 
to be cured of his leprosy and that the king of Israel 
was greatly distressed by the message. Elisha sent 
word to the king of Israel to send Naaman to him 
that he might talk with him and show him that 




NAAMAN IS CURED OF HIS LEPROSY 293 


1 


there was a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came 
with his horses and his chariots and stood at the 
door of the house of Elisha. 

Elisha knew that it was Naaman who stood be¬ 
fore his door but he did not ask him in, though he 
' was a mighty captain and Elisha’s house was a 
very poor one. Elisha sent a messenger to the door 
who said to Naaman: “Go and wash in the River 
Jordan seven times and your flesh shall come again 
to you and you shall be clean.” 

This made Naaman very angry and he went 
away, saying: “I thought the prophet himself 
would come out to me and call on the name of the 
Lord and strike his hand over my body and recover 
me of my leprosy. Are not the rivers of Damascus 
better than all the waters of Israel, and may I not 
wash in them and be clean?” And Naaman turned 
and went away in his rage. 

His servants came to him and said to him: “If 
the prophet had told you to do some great thing 
would you not have done it? how much rather, then, 
when he said to you, Wash and be clean.” 

Naaman thought this was good advice and as 
soon as he recovered himself of his rage he went 
down and dipped himself seven times in the River 
Jordan and behold, his flesh came again like the 
flesh of a little child and he was clean. 




294_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

Naaman was so rejoiced of being cured of his 
leprosy that he and all his company went again to 
Elisha’s house and stood before the man of God 
and said: “Now, I know that there is no God in all 
the earth but in Israel, therefore I pray you, take a 
present from me.” And Naaman offered Elisha the 
presents he had brought from Syria. 

Elisha refused to take the presents. Naaman then 
said to him: “I shall take with me two mules’ burden 
of earth away from this land and shall henceforth 
offer neither burnt offering or sacrifice unto any 
other god but unto the Lord alone.” Naaman then 
departed on his way. 

Now Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, heard what 
Naaman had said and saw the presents he had off¬ 
ered to his master. He said to himself: “My master 
has spared Naaman this Syrian and has not received 
at his hands the presents which he has brought, but 
I will run after him and take somewhat of him.” 
So Gehazi ran after Naaman. 

When Naaman saw him coming he stepped from 
his chariot and went to meet Gehazi and asked 
him: “Is all well?” 

Gehazi answered: “All is well, my lord Naaman, 
but my master has sent me to say that just now 
there had come two young men of the sons of the 
prophets from Mount Ephriam and he would that 




NAAMAN IS CURED OF HIS LEPROSY 295 


you should give them a talent of silver and two 
changes of raiment.” 

Of course, Naaman was overjoyed to do this and 
gladly offered Gehazi not only one talent of silver 
but made him take two talents in two bags and two 
* changes of garments. He laid them upon two of his 
servants and they went back with them to the house 
of Gehazi. 

When they arrived Gehazi took the load from the 
hands of the servants and stored the talents and 
the raiment away in his house and let the men go. 
He then went to Elisha and stood before his 
master. 

“From whence do you come, Gehazi?” said Elisha 
unto him. Gehazi looked down and told his master 
he had been nowhere. Elisha was a man of God 
and knew all the doings of his servants. He knew 
Gehazi was telling him a falsehood, therefore, he 
turned to him and said in his wrath: “I knew what 
you did when Naaman turned in his chariot to 
meet you. This was no time to receive money and 
garments and you have deceived me, therefore, the 
leprosy of Naaman shall take hold of you.” Elisha 
stretched forth his hand towards his guilty servant 
and at once the flesh of Gehazi became white with 
leprosy and he went forth from the presence of his 
master. 




296 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


THE FLIGHT OF THE SYRIANS 

The king of Syria again made war against the 
people of Israel. His hosts moved down into the 
land of Israel, and the king told his servants: “In 
such and such a place I shall make my camp.” 

Elisha, the man of God, knew what the king of 
Syria was doing and sent word to the king of Israel, 
telling him where the king of Syria had placed his 
camp and warning him not to pass that place. 

No matter where the king of Syria moved his 
army, always the king of Israel knew of it through 
Elisha, and this greatly astonished the king of Syria. 

The king of Syria called his men around him and 
said to them: “Which one of you is working for the 
king of Israel and tells him where my men are 
placed so that he knows my movements before¬ 
hand?” But none of them knew who was giving 
information to the king of Israel. At last one of 
them said: “There is a prophet in Israel, named 
Elisha, who can tell the king of Israel even the words 
that you speak in your room. It may be he that 
has told these things to the king of Israel.” 

“Go, spy where he is, that I may send and get 
him,” were the orders of the king of Syria. Then 




THE FLIGHT OF THE SYRIANS 


297 


it was told him that Elisha was in Dothan. To 
Dothan the king of Syria sent horses and chariots 
and a great host of men who came by night and 
surrounded the city that they might take Elisha. 

When the servant of Elisha rose early in the 
- morning and went from his house he saw a great 
host of horses and chariots about the city. He 
came back to his master and said to him: “Alas, 
alas! what shall we do?” 

“Fear not, for they that are with us are more than 
they that are with them,” answered the man of God. 

Elisha prayed to the Lord and asked Him to 
open the eyes of the servant that he might see the 
things that the man of God saw. The Lord opened 
the eyes of the young man who was the servant of 
Elisha and he saw the mountain full of horses and 
chariots of fire all around about, and the chariots 
came down from the mountain and near to Elisha. 

Then Elisha prayed again to the Lord and said: 
“Smite this people, I pray Thee, with blindness.” 
And at once all the hosts of the king of Syria were 
blind, even as Elisha had prayed. 

Then Elisha went where they were and said to 
the hosts of the king of Syria: “This is not the way 
and neither is this the city that you seek. Follow 
me and I will lead you to the man whom you wish 
to find.” 




298 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Elisha then led them to Samaria and, though 
blind, they folllowed him as he went before them. 

At last they came to Samaria, and Elisha said 
to the Lord: “Open the eyes of these men that they 
may see.” Then their eyes were opened and they 
saw that they were in the midst of Samaria and 
at the mercy of the people of Israel. 

The king of Israel said to Elisha: “Shall I smite 
them?” But Elisha told the king that he should 
not smite them but that he should set bread and 
water before them that they might eat and drink 
and go back to their master. 

Now there was a great famine in the land of 
Israel. It was a time when Ben Hadad, king of 
Syria, was besieging Samaria. The people of that 
town were so hard pressed for food that they ate 
anything they could find. When the king of Israel 
saw how distressed the people were he became 
angry with Elisha and laid the blame on him. He 
declared that he would have the head of Elisha that 
very day and forthwith went to the house of 
Elisha. 

Elisha sat in his house and the elders sat with 
him. The king sent a man on before him but before 
this man could arrive, Elisha said to those around 
him: “This son of a murderer has been sent to take 
away my head. When this messenger comes, shut 




THE FLIGHT OF THE SYRIANS 


299 


the door and hold him fast at the door, because 
his master is close behind him.” 

When the king’s messenger and the king himself 
had both arrived at the door of Elisha and found 
it shut they sat without but Elisha spoke to them 
and said: “Tomorrow, about this time, a measure 
of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel and two meas¬ 
ures of barley shall be sold for a shekel in the gate 
of Samaria. Tomorrow no famine shall be in the 
city.” 

Then a messenger who was with the king spoke 
up and said: “The Lord would have to make win¬ 
dows in heaven that this thing might be.” When 
Elisha heard him say this he told the messenger 
that he would see it with his eyes but he should not 
eat thereof. After this the king and his messenger 
departed from the house of Elisha. 

There were four lepers sitting at the foot of the 
gate of Samaria and they said one to another: “Why 
sit we here idle, until we die? If we enter the city 
the famine is there and we shall certainly die; if we 
sit here we shall die also. Let us go to the hosts of 
the Syrians. If they save us alive, we shall live; if 
they kill us we shall but die.” 

The lepers rose up in the twilight and went to 
the camp of the Syrians. When they came to the 
outposts of the camp, there was no one there, for 




300 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the Lord had made the hosts of the Syrians hear a 
noise of chariots and a noise of horses and a noise 
of a great host of people. The Syrians had said one 
to another: “The king of Israel has hired against 
us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt.” 
Therefore, they had fled in the twilight and had 
left their tents and their horses and even the camp 
as it was and had fled for their lives. This is the 
reason that the lepers found the camp deserted. 

The lepers went into a tent and ate and drank 
and took away silver and gold and raiment and 
hid them. They went into another tent and ate 
and drank and carried away more silver and gold 
and raiment and hid them. 

The lepers went back to the gates of the city and 
told the people that they came to the camp of the 
Syrians and there was no man there and only horses 
and food and raiment and the tents. Then 
the people told those who were in the king’s 
house. 

The king arose in the night and said to his ser¬ 
vants: “The Syrians know we are hungry and they 
have gone out of their camp to hide themselves in 
the field, thinking that when we go out of the city 
they shall catch us alive.” But his servants per¬ 
suaded him to send to the camp of the Syrians 
and see what had happened. 




JEHU IS APPOINTED KING 


301 


When the king’s men came to the camp they found 
it deserted, even as the lepers had said. They fol¬ 
lowed the way the Syrians had fled and found the 
way full of garments and vessels which the Syrians 
had cast away in their haste. Then the messenger 
returned and told the king. 

The people of Samaria went out to the camp of 
the Syrians and spoiled the camp of all that they 
held. There was plenty of barley, silver, gold and 
raiment so that the words of Elisha came true and 
a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two 
measures of barley were sold for a shekel. 

The king appointed the messenger who had gone 
with him to the house of Elisha to have charge of 
the gate of the city. As the man stood before the 
gate, the people went out and came back from the 
tents of the Syrians in such a great multitude that 
they trod the messenger under foot and he died, for 
Elisha had said that he should see plenty of food in 
the city but should not eat thereof. 

JEHU IS ANOINTED KING 

Elisha called one of the children of the prophets 
and gave him a box of oil and told him to go to 
Ramoth-Gilead and when he had reached there, he 
was to find Jehu, the son of Jehosaphat. He told 




302 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


him he would find Jehu sitting among his brethren 
but he was to make him rise and follow the messen¬ 
ger into an inner chamber and there the messenger 
was to take the box of oil and pour it on Jehu’s 
head and say to him: “The Lord has anointed you 
king over Israel.” Then the messenger was to open 
the door and flee. 

The young man did as the prophet told him. 
When he came to the place where Jehu was, he 
found him sitting and said to him: “I have a mes¬ 
sage for you, captain.” Jehu was a captain of the 
host and he turned to the messenger and said: “Is 
your message for me or for some of these others?” 
The messenger told him that the message was for 
him and Jehu arose and followed him into the 
inner chamber. 

Then the young man poured the oil on the head 
of Jehu, and said to him: “The Lord God anoints 
you king over Israel. You shall smite the house of 

i __ 

Ahab that the Lord may be avenged of the blood 
of his servants, the prophets. The dogs shall eat 
Jezebel, his wife, and there shall be none to bury 
her.” When the young man had said this he opened 
the door and fled. 

Jehu came out and told his companions what the 
young man had said to him and that he had poured 
oil upon his head and anointed him king of Israel. 





JEHU IS APPOINTED KING 


303 


Then the companions of Jehu blew their trumpets 
and cried aloud: “ Jehu is king!” 

Now King Joram was in Jezreel, where he lay 
sick of the wounds which the Syrians had given 

s 

him when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria. 
Jehu told his companions not to let anyone leave the 
city or tell King Joram that he had been anointed king. 

Then Jehu mounted his chariot and rode towards 
Jezreel where King Joram was. Ahaziah, king of 
Judah, was also at Jezreel to see Joram. A watch¬ 
man stood on a tower in Jezreel and saw the com¬ 
pany of Jehu coming. He said to Joram: “I see 
a company.” Joram said: “Take a horseman and 
send to meet the company and let him - ask them, 
Is it peace?” 

One horseman was sent out to meet Jehu and 
said to him: “King Joram wishes to know if you 
come in peace?” But Jehu told the horseman to 
get behind him. 

Then a second horseman was sent out and came 
to Jehu and said: “King Joram asks, do you come 
in peace?” Again Jehu told the horseman to get 
behind him. 

The watchman on the tower told Joram that the 
horsemen did not return and that the company 
was driving furiously and it seemed as if the leader 
was Jehu, 




304 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Joram arose from his bed of sickness and mount¬ 
ed his chariot. Ahaziah also mounted his chariot 
and went out to meet Jehu and his company. When 
they came near to the place where Jehu was, King 
Joram cried out: “Jehu, do you come in peace?” 
But Jehu answered him that he had come to avenge 
the blood of the prophets in the name of the Lord, 
and that it was death to the house of Jezebel. When 
Joram heard these words he turned to flee. As he 
fled Jehu pursued him and drew his bow with all 
his strength and shot an arrow that smote the king 
in the back so that he sank down dead in his char¬ 
iot. Then Jehu told his captain to take up the 
body of Joram and cast it in the field of Naboth. 

Ahaziah, the king of Judah, had also fled before 
the hosts of Joram. Jehu followed him and smote 
him also in his chariot. But the servants of Ahaziah 
brought his body to Jerusalem, where they buried 
him in the sepulchre of the kings. 

When Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard 
of it and painted her face and put on her ornaments 
and looked out of the window. When Jehu reached 
the gate Jezebel called to him and he lifted up his 
eyes to the window and said: “Who is on my side?” 
Then there looked out of the window two or three 
officers. Jehu called out to the officers: “Throw 
her down.” The officers took the queen and threw 




THE STORY OF JOASH 


305 


her down out of the window and against the wall 
of the city. Some of her blood was sprinkled on 
the wall and as she fell the horses of Jehu trod her 
under foot. 

“Go find this cursed woman, for she is a king’s 
daughter, and bury her,” commanded Jehu, of his 
company after they had entered the city. When 
they went back to find her they found no more than 
a skull and her feet and the palms of her hands, 
because the dogs had fallen upon her and devoured 
her. And thus also was fulfilled jthe prophecy of Elisha. 

THE STORY OF JOASH 

When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, heard 
that he had been killed by Jehu and his men, she 
took the children of Ahaziah, which were her own 
grandchildren, and had them all put to death, in 
order to make herself queen. Jehosheba, the sister 

w* I 

of Ahaziah, and the aunt of the children, took one 
of the sons, a little baby named Joash, and hid 
him away so that he was not slain. 

He was hid in the temple of the Lord in Jerusa¬ 
lem for six years, and Jehoida, the high priest, 
took care of him and watched over him. Athaliah 
knew nothing of this, but made herself queen and 
ruled over the land. 




306 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


When Joash was seven years old, Jehoida sent 
for the Levites and the rulers and the captains and 
brought them into the temple and showed them 
Joash, and told them how he had taken care of the 
king’s son. He made them take an oath that they 
would make Joash king. They were glad to get rid 
of Athaliah and to make the son of Ahaziah king, 
so they agreed to do as Jehoida had told 
them. 

And there’were in the temple spears and shields 
and bucklers that belonged to King David. Jehoida 
gave them to the men and told them to stand on 
the right side of the temple and around the young 
child, so that no one could hurt him. Then they 
brought Joash out of the room where he had been 
kept and Jehoida and his sons anointed him king. 
Then everybody shouted: “God save the king!” 

When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and 
the shouts of the people, she came to the temple. 
When she looked in she saw the young king stand¬ 
ing by a pillar with a crown on his head and the 
princes and the trumpeters and the guards around 
him. The people were singing and shouting and 
rejoicing and crying: “God save the king,” so that 
Athaliah knew that the end of her reign had come. 
She was very angry and tore her clothes and cried 
out: “Treason! Treason!” 




THE STORY OF JOASH 


307 


Jehoida commanded the captains and the officers 
to drive her away, and make her leave the temple. 
“All those that follow after her you shall kill with 
the sword/’ were his orders. “Let her not be slain 
in the house of the Lord.” 

So they drove her out of the temple and nobody 
followed her, except the captains and the officers. 
She went quickly toward the palace and was going 
through the gate which the horses used, when the 
men overtook her and slew her, for she had 
been a wicked queen and had not served the 
Lord. 

Then the people went into the temples of Baal, 
the heathen god, whom Athaliah had set up and 
worshiped, and broke down the idols and images 
and the altars and slew the priests of the heathen 
god. Then the rulers and the captains brought Joash 
out of the house of the Lord, and into the king’s 
house, and he sat on the throne. The people rejoiced 
and shouted aloud, and then the city was quiet, for 
the wicked queen was slain. The idols of Baal were 
overthrown, and the young Joash, who had 
been reared in the house of the Lord, was 
king. 

Joash reigned in Jerusalem forty years, and did 
what was right in the sight of the Lord, as Jehoida, 
the priest, had taught him. Seeing that the temple 




308 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


had fallen into decay and had been broken in many 
places, while Athaliah was queen, Joash said to 
the priests: “Collect money from all the people, 
and repair the broken places in the temple.” But 
a long time passed and not enough money had been 
collected and the broken places in the temple were 
not repaired. 

Joash ordered the priests to collect no more 
money from the people, but instead, he took a chest, 
and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside 
the altar, on the right side as one came into the 
temple. Then he made a proclamation throughout 
Judah and Jerusalem, that every man should bring 
a piece of money and put it into the chest. 

The people were glad to do this, and as they 
crowded into the temple they dropped their coins 
into the chest until it was full. When the Levites 
saw that it was full they carried it off and emptied 
it and brought it back to be filled up again. This 
they did day by day until there was money in 
abundance to repair the temple. 

Then the king and Jehoida gave the money to 
those in charge of the repairs of the temple, and 
they hired masons and carpenters, and workers in 
brass and iron to do all the work that was needed. 
The workmen labored steadily until at last the tem¬ 
ple was repaired in every part, and was as before 




THE STORY OF JOASH 


309 


it had been broken by the wicked Athaliah, when 
she was queen. 

When the temple was finished it was found that 
all the money had not been used. So they brought 
the rest of it to the king and Jehoida, who used it 
' to make vessels of gold and silver, and spears for 
the service of the temple, to take the places of those 
that had been taken away by the servants of 
Athaliah. 

So the temple was repaired and all the people 
came again to offer burnt offerings upon the altars. 
This they continued to do so long as Jehoida, the 
good priest, lived. 

Jehoida was now a hundred and thirty years old, 
and he died. He was buried in Jerusalem, in the 
sepulchre of the kings, for he had done good all the 
days of his life, and had taught the people to worship 
God. 

Sometime after Jehoida was dead, the princes of 
Judah, whose hearts were wicked, came to Joash 
and asked him to let them worship in their own 
groves and bow down to their own idols. Joash 
consented for them to do as they asked, 
and they went their way and began to worship 
idols as before. This was wrong of Joash 
and brought him and his people into great 
trouble. 




310 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Zechariah, the son of Jehoida, himself a priest, 
stood before the people and said: “You cannot 
prosper if you do not follow the commandments 
of the Lord. If you forsake God He willforsake you.” 

But Joash, the king, paid no attention to the 
words of the priest, and said to the people: “Stone 
him with atones until he is dead.” Then the foolish 
people seized great rocks and stoned the priest to 
death for warning them of their sins. 

At the end of the year, the hosts of Syria came up 
against Joash, and made war on Judah and Jeru¬ 
salem. They entered the city and slew the wicked 
princes. They took all their silver and gold and 
whatever else they wanted and sent it to their own 
king at Damascus. 

The strange part of it was that the army of the 
Syrians was very small, but a great host of the 
people of Judah was captured, for the Lord de¬ 
livered them into the hands of their enemies on 
account of their wickedness. 

After the Syrians had left with their spoils, a 
great sickness fell upon Joash, and he lay upon his 
bed in pain. His own servants saw their master ill 
and helpless and conspired to kill him. So they 
fell upon him in his bed and slew him. The people 
came and took his body and buried it in Jerusalem, 
but not in the sepulchre of the kings. 




THE LAST DAYS OF ELISHA 


311 


THE LAST DAYS OF ELISHA 

There was a king of Israel named Jehoash. He 
heard that the old prophet Elisha was ill and 
about to die, and went down to his home to 
see him. 

When he came to the room of the prophet, he 
bent over him and said: “Oh, my father, my 
father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen 
thereof!” 

By this he meant that Elisha was not only a pro¬ 
phet of the Lord but was also a means of defence 
against the enemies of Israel. 

“Take your bow and your arrows,” ordered the 
prophet of the king. And the king took his bow 
and arrows. 

“Put your hand upon the bow,” and the king 
did that also. 

“Now open the window,” and the king opened 
the window. 

The old prophet looked out of the window, and 
again said to Jehoash, “Shoot,” and the king shot 
his arrow out of the window. 

“The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance from 
Syria,” said Elisha, “for you shall smite the Syrians 
and consume them.” 




312 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Elisha then turned to King Jehoash and told 
him to take his arrows and strike upon the ground 
with them. Jehoash took the arrows and struck 
upon the ground three times and then stopped. 
The man of God was angry with the king for stop¬ 
ping and said to him: 

“You should have struck the ground five or six 
times, then you would have smitten Syria until 
you had consumed it, whereas now you shall conquer 
them but three times.” 

Then Elisha died and they buried him. Not long 
afterwards the Moabites invaded the land, and a 
band of them came near the sepulchre of Elisha. 
The people were burying a man but when they saw 
the band of the Moabites coming, in their haste 
they cast the dead man into the sepulchre of Elisha. 
As soon as he touched the body of the prophet, 
behold, he was made alive again and stood upon 
his feet. 

After the death of Elisha, Jehoash fought against 
the Syrians and took from them the cities which 
they had captured from the people of Judah. Three 
times did Jehoash defeat the Syrians, but was not 
able to completely subdue them, even as Elisha 
had foretold before his death. Then Jehoash 
died and his son, Jeroboam, became king of 
Israel. 




THE LAST DAYS OF ELISHA 


313 


Many years passed, during which the kingdom 
of Israel had rulers, most of whom were wicked kings 
that did not serve the Lord. The people also fol¬ 
lowed the heathen nations that were around them, 
and worshiped false gods. The Lord sent prophets 
to warn them, and at times punished them for 
wicked deeds, and sometimes the people would 
return to the worship of the Lord, but not for 
long. 

At last the Assyrians came up and besieged 

• 

Samaria, the capital city of Israel, and after three 
years took it, and made captive all the people of 
Israel and carried many of them away to Assyria. 
The king of Assyria sent people from his own coun¬ 
try to dwell in the cities of Israel, and to work the 
fields and vineyards. The ten tribes that had re¬ 
volted and set up their kingdom were scattered 
abroad and we do not read that they ever returned 
to their own land. 

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB 

About the time that the ten tribes of Israel were 
made captive by the king of Syria, there came 
against Jerusalem a king of Assyria, named Sen¬ 
nacherib. The king of Judah, at the time, was 
Hezekiah. When he saw the hosts of Sennacherib 




314 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


encamped against Jerusalem, he called together his 
priests and his mighty men. 

The first thing they did was to fill up the cisterns 
and the wells which were outside the city so as to 
cut off the water supply from the Assyrians as much 
as possible. 

Then Hezekiah built up the walls of the city, 
raised towers and repaired the breaches and made 
darts and shields in abundance for his soldiers. 
Then he appointed captains over the soldiers, and 
called them together and spoke to them. 

He said to his soldiers: “Be strong and cour¬ 
ageous; be not afraid nor dismayed on account of 
the multitude that is with the king of Assyria. 
There is more with us than there is with him. With 
him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord, our 
God, who will help us fight our battles.” 

Now Hezekiah was afraid of the king of Assyria, 
in spite of his boasting, so he put him off by sending 
him a great deal of gold and silver and begging him 
not to fight any more against Judah. Sennacherib 
took the presents from Hezekiah and went up to 
his own country, but it was not long before he came 
again to besiege Jerusalem. 

Again did Hezekiah call the people together, and 
exhort them to be brave and courageous, for the 
Lord would defend them. Sennacherib sent his ser- 




THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB 315 


vants to Jerusalem to tell the people that he was 
coming against them with a great army and would 
destroy them. 

His servants said to the people: “Why do you 
trust in Hezekiah and give yourselves over to die 
* by famine and thirst? The hosts of Sennacherib 
will encompass the city and their gods will over¬ 
come your God. Let not Hezekiah deceive you; 
your God cannot keep you out of the hands of 
Sennacherib.” 

The servants of Sennacherib stood close to the 
wall of Jerusalem on the outside and spoke to the 
people on the walls in their own tongue and tried 
to frighten them and make them give up the city 
to Sennacherib. The servants spoke against God 
and tried to persuade the people to surrender their 
city without a struggle. 

The people on the wall made no reply to the 
servants of Sennacherib but held their peace, 
for Hezekiah had told them to answer not a 
word. 

Then the servants of Sennacherib called out 
again: “If you will pay our king tribute of gold 
and silver then he will spare you and your city and 
every man shall have his own vine and fig tree and 
drink the waters of his own cistern.” But still the 
people answered not a word. 





316_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

When King Hezekiah heard the threats of the 
king of Assyria, and what his messengers had said 
to the men on the walls, he went into the house of 
the Lord to pray. He sent priests and elders to 
Isaiah, the prophet, and asked him what he should 
do. Isaiah, the prophet, told the priests to say to 
Hezekiah: “Be not afraid of the words which you 
have heard and the threats of the servants of the 
king of Assyria. The Lord will send a blast upon 
him and his army shall be destroyed and he shall 
return to his own land and there he shall fall by the 
sword . 77 The priests returned to Hezekiah and told 
him what Isaiah had said and he was much comforted. 

He sent word to the servants of Sennacherib out¬ 
side the walls, that he would not surrender his city 
and that the Lord would help him to defend it and 
this defiance the messenger took back to the king 
of Assyria. 

Sennacherib then wrote a letter to Hezekiah. In 
that letter he said: “You have heard what the king 
of Assyria has done to other lands by utterly de¬ 
stroying them, and do you hope for deliverance? 
The kings of Assyria have overcome the kings of 
all other nations and surely they will overcome the 
king of Judah . 77 

When Hezekiah received this letter, he went up 
into the house of the Lord and spread it on the 




THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB 317 


floor and knelt down in front of it and began to 
pray: “0, Lord, Thou hast heard the words of Sen¬ 
nacherib and his defiance to the living God. It is 
true that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the 
kings of other nations and have cast their gods 
. into the fire, but they were not gods, because they 
were the work of men’s hands and were made of 
wood and stone, therefore, they have destroyed 
them. But Thou art the living God and can save 
us out of the hands of these Assyrians, that all the 
gods of the earth many know that Thou art the 
Lord God, and Thou only.” 

Isaiah, the prophet, knew of the prayer of Heze- 
kiah, and sent him word that the Lord had heard 
his prayer against Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, 
and would deliver him and Judah from the hands 
of his enemies. Hezekiah went forth from the tem¬ 
ple and told the people not to be afraid, for the 
Lord would rid them of the Assyrians and defend 
them from their enemies. 

That night the people of Judah went to sleep 
inside the walls of their city and the great hosts 
of the Assyrians slept in their camp outside. As 
the Assyrians slept the angel of the Lord passed 
over the camp and smote the Assyrians with death, 
one hundred and eighty-five thousand of them, and 
in the morning, when the people of Jerusalem went 




318 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


out to see what had become of their enemies, they 
were all dead. 

Sennacherib, however, was spared by the destroy¬ 
ing angel and went quickly back to Nineveh. Shortly 
afterwards, when he was worshiping in the temple 
of his god his sons took him and slew him with their 
swords. Thus came to grief the great army of the 
Assyrians and Sennacherib, their proud leader. 


JUDAH LED INTO CAPTIVITY 

There was a king of Judah, in Jerusalem, named 
Jehoiakim. He was a wicked king and did evil in 
the sight of the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of 
Babylon, came up to make war against him. Jehoi¬ 
akim was not able to fight against the hosts of 
Babylon, so he promised to serve Nebuchadnezzar. 
Nebuchadnezzar then carried off the vessels out of 
the house of the Lord and put them in the temple 
of the heathen god in Babylon. 

After Jehoiakim had been king for four years and 
had been very wicked, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah, 
the prophet, and said to him: “Take a roll of a 
book and write down all I shall tell you that will 
happen to Judah, on account of the sins of the 
people.” 




JUDAH LED INTO CAPTIVITY 


319 


Jeremiah sent for Baruch, a scribe, and Baruch 
wrote on a roll the words of Jeremiah, as he spoke 
them, even the words that the Lord had put into 
the mouth of Jeremiah. When the roll was fin¬ 
ished, Jeremiah said to the scribe: “Go, read the 
roll which you have written from the words of my 
mouth, to all the people in the Lord’s house upon 
the day of their fasting.” Then the scribe took the 
roll and went up to the temple where the people were 
gathered, and read to them the words of the prophet. 

The princes heard of the roll which Baruch had 
read to the people and sent for him to come and 
read it to them as they sat in the king’s palace. 
Baruch took the roll and went to the king’s palace, 
and began to read it to the princes. 

“We will surely tell the king all these words,” 
said the princes to Baruch, for they were afraid of 

the punishments which Jeremiah had foretold. “Tell 

* 

us how you wrote these words?” 

“Jeremiah spoke all these words with his mouth 
and I WTote them with ink in a book,” answered 
the scribe. Then the princes told Baruch to hide 
Jeremiah and himself, for the king would be very 
angry when he heard the words which the prophet 
had spoken. 

The princes told Jehoiakim about the book, and 
he sent one of his servants to bring it to him. Then 




320 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the servant began to read it in the ears of the king, 
and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside 
the king. It was winter and there was a fire burning 
on the hearth before the king. When the servant 
had read three or four leaves of the book, the king 
took his penknife and cut them from the book and 
threw them into the fire. He did this to each leaf 
until the entire book had been consumed in the fire 
that was on the hearth. 

Three of the princes begged the king not to de¬ 
stroy the book as it was read to him and them, but 
he paid no heed to their requests. The king and 
the princes were not afraid when they heard the 
prophecy of the punishment which was to come upon 
Judah, and by no means repented of their sins. On 
the other hand the king was angry with Jeremiah 
for speaking the words and with Baruch for writing 
the book, and sent his officers to get them. But the 
Lord hid the prophet and the scribe so that the 
soldiers could not find them. 

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 
“Take another roll and write down all that you 
wrote in the book which the king has destroyed in 
the fire.” And Jeremiah took another roll and gave 
it to Baruch and the scribe wrote all the words of 
the prophet which he had written before and many 
more words besides. 




_THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 321 

In that book the prophet said that the king of 
Babylon should certainly come and destroy the 
land, and that the Lord would punish the people 
for their sins. But Jehoiakim paid no attention to 
the words of the prophet and the people of Judah 
continued in their iniquity. Then Jehoiakim died 
and his son, Jehoiachin, became king in his place. 

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up 
again with his hosts and besieged Jerusalem. Jehoi¬ 
achin was not able to fight so strong an army and 
surrendered to the king of Babylon, even as his 
father had done. Nebuchadnezzar spoiled the tem¬ 
ple of the Lord and carried all the treasures of the 
temple and of the king’s palace to Babylon. He cut 
in pieces all the vessels of gold that Solomon had 
made and carried away all the princes and mighty 
men of valor, and all the craftsmen and smiths, so 
that none remained in Jerusalem except the poorest 
sort of people. 

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 

Nebuchadnezzar carried Jehoiachin and his moth¬ 
er and his wives and all the rulers of the land of 
Babylon, and made captives of them. He took all 
the strong and brave men and all the workers of all 
sorts, so that there was none left in Jerusalem that 




322 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


could make war. Then he made Zedekiah, the 
brother of Jehoiakin, to be king over what was 
left in Judah. 

Jeremiah, the prophet, wrote a letter to the cap¬ 
tives in Babylon, telling them to be content with 
their lot, and to plant vineyards and raise crops, 
for they were to be captives seventy years. After 
that the Lord would deliver them from the hands 
of their enemies, because they would repent of their 
sins, and then they would come back to their old 
land and Jerusalem would be restored to them. 

Zedekiah was no better than the other kings of 
Judah before him, for he did evil in the sight of 
the Lord and at last, after nine years of service, he 
rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Of course, the 
king of Babylon came with another great army of 
Chaldeans and surrounded Jerusalem. He built 
forts around the city and cut off all the supplies of 
food so that there was nothing for the people to 
eat and there was a great famine. 

Now, Jeremiah was also in Jerusalem, even as 
the rest of the people. Zedekiah sent word to him: 
“Pray now unto the Lord for us, that he may drive 
our enemies away.” But Jeremiah replied to the 
messengers: “Tell the king that the Chaldeans shall 
fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with 
fire.” When the princes heard this answer of the 




THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 323 


prophet they smote him and put him in prison, and 
accused him of conspiring with the Chaldeans who 
were besieging the city. 

The king sent secretly for Jeremiah and took 
him out of the prison and had him brought to the 
palace. “Is there any word from the Lord?” he 
asked of the prophet. “Yes, there is; the Lord says 
you shall be delivered into the hands of the king 
of Babylon,” replied Jeremiah. 

The prophet furthermore told the princes and the 
people that those who surrendered to the Chaldeans 
should be saved alive, but those who stayed in the 
city should die by the sword, by famine and by 
pestilence. All this so angered the princes that they 
cast the prophet into a dungeon, and let him down 
with cords. There was mire at the bottom of the 
dungeon, so that the poor old prophet sank down 
into the mire. One of the officers told Zedekiah 
what had been done by the princes and that Jere¬ 
miah was likely to die if he were allowed to remain 
in the mud at the bottom of the dungeon. 

“Take thirty men and draw Jeremiah out of the 
dungeon before he die,” were the king's orders. So 
the men took some pieces of old cloth and some rags 
andmade a kind of rope of them, and let it down 
into the dungeon. Then they called out: “Put these 
old cloths and old rags under your armholes and we 




324 _ HEROES OF ISRAEL _ 

will pull you out of the dungeon. ” So Jeremiah did 
as the men told him and they drew him out of the 
dungeon. They did not let him go free, but they 
kept him in another part of the prison. 

The Chaldeans still besieged Jerusalem. Eighteen 
months passed and all the food was gone and the 
people had nothing to eat. When Zedekiah saw that 
it was useless to fight any longer, he fled by night 
out of the city, with all his soldiers. But the Chal¬ 
deans pursued him and overtook him and his men, 
and brought the king before Nebuchadnezzar for 
judgment. 

The king of Babylon thereupon slew the sons of 
Zedekiah before his eyes, and all the nobles of 
Judah that were with him. Then he put out the 
eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains and 
sent him captive to Babylon. There he was kept 
in prison until the day of his death. 

Then Nebuchadnezzar and the army of the Chal¬ 
deans broke down the walls of Jerusalem and burnt 
the temple, and the palace of the king, and de¬ 
stroyed the city itself. The treasures of the temple, 
the pillars of brass which Solomon had made, and 
the sea of brass that stood on the backs of the 
twelve oxen in the court of the temple, and all the 
gold and silver vessels of the temple were carried 
away. 





DANIEL INTERPRETS THE DREAM 


325 


Many of the people were slain, but those who 
were not, were carried away captives to Babylon. 
Only the very poor were left to care for the fields 
and vineyards, and over these Nebuchadnezzar ap¬ 
pointed a governor. The kingdom of Judah had 
lasted nearly four hundred years. 

There had been twenty rulers in all, fifteen of 
whom did wickedly in the sight of the Lord, and 
five of whom served Him. The people had worshiped 
idols and disobeyed the word of God and rejected 
His prophets, and at last the punishment for their 
sins had come upon them. They were now cap¬ 
tives in the city of Babylon and the land of the 
Chaldeans where they were to serve for seventy 
years. 

As for the prophet, Jeremiah, he was released 
from his prison and was allowed to remain in the 
land of Judah among the poor people whojiad not 
been carried away. 

DANIEL INTERPRETS THE DREAM 

When Nebuchadnezzar was in Jerusalem, he or¬ 
dered one of his chief men to choose from among 
the princes of Judah certain young men who were 
to be trained as servants in the king’s palace. They 
were to be children in whom there was no blemish, 
and well favored, and skilful in wisdom, and cun- 




326 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


ning in knowledge. He wanted only the most beau¬ 
tiful and brightest young men in all the land. 

The officer selected them as the king had directed, 
and fed them of the king’s food and taught them the 
things they should know, and did this for three 
years, so that they might be ready to serve the king. 

Among these were four young men, Daniel, Shad- 
rach, Meschach and Abednego. They also were 
brought to Babylon, and had teachers appointed 
for their instruction. Each day the king sent them 
meat and wine from his own store, so that they might 
be well fed and favored by the time they were 
ready to serve the king. 

Now, the meat and drink that came from the 
king’s table was a portion of that which had been 
offered to the heathen idols, and, besides that, some 
of the meat was of the kind that the Jews were 
ordered not to eat. It was unclean meat and was 
forbidden. The other young men may not have 
minded this, but to Daniel and his three friends it 
was an offence, and to eat it meant defilement. 

Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not 
defile himself with the king’s meat and wine. He 
said to the officer who had charge of him: “I pray 
you not to make me and these others eat of the 
meat and drink of the wine from the king’s table, 
for in so doing we defile ourselves.” 




DANIEL INTERPRETS THE DREAM 


327 


The officer had grown to love Daniel and his 
friends, but did not wish to displease the king. He 
said to Daniel: “I am afraid of the king, for if he 
should see your faces and find you thin and pale 
and worse looking than the others, then he would 
order my head to be cut off.” And the officer was 
perplexed as to what he should do, and turned them 
over to the steward. 

“Give us a trial of ten days, and let us have 
nothing but pulse to eat and water to drink,” said 
Daniel to the steward. “Then let our faces be com¬ 
pared with the faces of those who eat of the king's 
meat. If, then, we are not to your liking, deal with 
us as you will.” 

The steward consented, and for ten days, Daniel 
and his three friends were fed on pulse, which was a 
kind of vegetable, and drank only water. At the 
end of ten days their faces were fairer and fatter 
than those who had eaten of the king's meat. Then 
the steward took away the portion of their meat 
and wine, and gave them only pulse and water. 

During the time of their instruction, the Lord 
made Daniel to understand dreams and visions, 
and the meaning of them. At the end of three years, 
Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, were 
brought before the king and the king talked with 
them. Among all whom the king talked with, there 




328 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


were no others like them. In all matters of wisdom 
and understanding, and in all the things that the 
king asked of them, he found them better than the 
magicians and wise men of his kingdom. 

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream that troubled 
him so much that he could not sleep. He called all 
the magicians and sorcerers, and wise men, and 
said to them: “I have dreamed a dream and my 
spirit is troubled to know the meaning of it.” 

“Tell us what you have dreamed, 0, king, and 
we will interpret the meaning for you,” said the 
men as they stood before the king. 

But the king answered: “The thing has gone 
from me, and I have forgot. You must make known 
to me what I dreamed and what was the meaning 
of it, or you shall be cut in pieces and your houses 
destroyed.” 

The wise men were dismayed, and cried out: 
“There is no man on earth that can do that. The 
king requires too much, that we should know both 
his dream and the interpretation of it. Only the 
gods can do that.” 

The king was angry and furious and sent out a 
decree that all the wise men should be put to death. 
This decree included Daniel and his fellows, for 
they were also among the wise men of Babylon. 
When Daniel heard of it he said to the king’s guard: 




DANIEL INTERPRETS THE DREAM 


329 


“ Why is the decree so hasty from the king, and why 
should the wise men be put to death?” And the 
captain of the guard told him what had happened. 

Daniel went to the king and begged him to give 
him time and he would tell the king his dream and 
his interpretation of it. Then he went back to his 
home and told the others. Together they prayed 
that the secret might be revealed and the wise men 
spared. That night Daniel slept and in a vision God 
told him all that he needed to know to answer the king. 

In the morning Daniel went to the captain of the 
king’s soldiers and said to him: “Destroy not the 
wise men of Babylon, bring me before the king and 
I will show him the meaning of his dream.” Then 
the captain hastened to the king and told him what 
Daniel had said and the king ordered Daniel to 
come before him. 

“Are you able to make known to me the dream 
which I have forgotten, and to tell me the meaning 
of it?” said Nebuchadnezzar, to the young man. 

“There is a God in heaven which reveals all 
secrets and who has spoken to the king in his dream 
of things that are going to happen. He has told me 
the dream and the meaning thereof,” boldly replied 
Daniel, as he bowed to the king. 

“Then tell me the dream,” demanded Nebuchad¬ 


nezzar. 




330 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Daniel spoke to the king: “0, king, you saw a 
great image. It was very bright and its form was 
terrible. Its head was of fine gold, its breasts and 
arms were of silver, and its body and thighs were 
of brass. Its legs were of iron, and its feet were 
part iron and part clay. 

“Then there came a stone out of the mountains, 
which struck the image upon its feet, which were 
of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. Then 
the iron and clay, the brass, silver and gold, were 
all broken in pieces together, and the wind blew 
them away so that there was nothing left. And the 
stone that struck the image became a great moun¬ 
tain and filled the earth. 75 

“That was my dream/ 7 said the king; “now 
what is the meaning? 77 

Daniel spoke again to the king: “You, 0 king, 
are a great king, with power and strength and glory. 
Wherever men dwell you have dominion over them. 
You are the head of gold. After you shall arise other 
kingdoms; the silver, the brass, the iron and the 
clay, mean these other kingdoms. There shall arise 
one kingdom greater than all, that shall subdue all 
kingdoms and shall cover the earth. The stone 
which came out of the mountain means this king¬ 
dom. 77 

And Daniel bowed before the king after he had 




THE FIERY FURNACE 


331 


told him his dream and the meaning of it. The 
king made Daniel a great man and gave him many 
gifts and made him ruler over the whole province 
of Babylon. He also gave Shadrach, Meschach and 
Abednego, high places in his kingdom, because 
. Daniel had revealed to him the secret of his dream 
and the meaning thereof. 

THE FIERY FURNACE 

Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made an image of 
gold and set it up in the plain of Dura, in the prov¬ 
ince of Babylon. He then gathered together the 
princes and governors, the captains and all the 
rulers of the province to come to the dedication of 
the image which he had set up. 

When they had come together a herald cried out 
aloud: “It is commanded that when you hear the 
sound of music you shall fall down and worship the 
golden image that the king has set up. 

“Whoever does not fall down and worship the 
image shall be cast into a fiery furnace.” 

When the people heard this order and heard the 
music, they at once fell down and worshiped the 
image according to the words of Nebuchadnezzar. 
There were those who came to Nebuchadnezzar 
and said to him: “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed- 




332 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


nego have not regarded your orders and they did 
not bow down and worship the golden image which 
you have set up.” 

Nebuchadnezzar was in a rage and fury when he 
heard this and commanded the three young Jews 
to be brought before him. When they came, he 
asked them: “Is it true that you do not serve my 
gods, nor worship the golden image which I have 
set up? If it is true and if you worship not the 
image you shall be cast into the midst of a burning 
fiery furnace and then we will see whether your 
God shall deliver you out of my hands.” 

The three young men were not alarmed at this 
threat of the king and replied to him: “We shall 
not bow down to the image which you have set up 
and if you cast us into the burning fiery furnace 
our God is able to deliver us.” 

Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury at this defiance 
of the young Jews and gave orders to his officers 
that they should heat the furnace seven times 
hotter than it was ordinarily heated. He then com¬ 
manded his men to bind Shedrach, Meshach and 
Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery 
furnace. 

So the three young Jews were bound in their 
coats, their stockings and their other garments, and 
were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace 




THE FIERY FURNACE 


333 


that was so exceedingly hot that the flame of fire 
killed the men that cast Shedrach, Meshach and 
Abednego into the furnace. 

Nebuchadnezzar stood where he could see the 
three men cast into the furnace. To his surprise, 
instead of three, he saw four men in the furnace. 
He rose up in haste and said to his counsellors: 
“Did we not cast three men into the midst of the 
fire?” and the counsellors told him that only three 
men had been bound. 

“I saw four men loose and walking in the midst 
of the fire and they received no harm. I saw the 
three young Jews but the fourth is like the Son of 
God,” said Nebuchadnezzar to those around him. 

The king then came as near to the mouth of the 
burning, fiery furnace as he could and called out: 
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you are ser¬ 
vants of the most high God, come out of the fur¬ 
nace for I see that the fire does you no harm.” 
Then the three young men came out of the midst of 
the fire. 

The princes, governors and captains gathered 
around the young men in great astonishment and 
saw that the fire had had no power over their bodies 
nor was a hair of their heads singed nor were their 
coats changed nor was the smell of fire upon them 
anywhere. 




334_HEROES OF ISRAEL 

The king approached the young men and said: 
“ Blessed be the God of Shedrach, Meshach and 
Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered 
His servants out of the fire that they might not 
worship any gods except their own God.” 

Nebuchadnezzar then made a decree that any one 
who spoke anything amiss against the God of Shad- 
rach, Meshach or Abednego, should be cut in pieces 
and their houses should be destroyed. Then he pro¬ 
moted them into the province of Babylon and did 
them great honor. 


THE MADNESS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR 

Babylon, the city, in which Nebuchadnezzar lived 
was a wonderful city. It was surrounded by walls 
which were sixty miles long, in which were beautiful 
gates made of brass and on which were many high 
towers. The palace of Nebuchadnezzar was a mag¬ 
nificent house filled with gold and silver ornaments 
which he had captured in his wars. 

He was a great king, surrounded by princes and 
rulers who flattered him and made him think that 
he was greater than he really was. At first Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar was a good man and worshiped God, but 
after a while he became very proud of his greatness 
and thought only of his riches and power. God sent 




THE MADNESS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR 335 

a strange punishment upon him and this is the way 
it happened: 

Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in his house, sur¬ 
rounded by all his wealth and vain of his power. 
He lay down to sleep and a dream came to him. 
He saw a tree in the midst of the earth, the height 
of which was very great. The tree grew and was 
strong and reached unto heaven and the branches 
spread out to all the ends of the earth. The leaves 
were fair and beautiful and the tree was full of fruit 
which was good to eat. The beasts of the field lay 
down under the tree to rest and the birds of the air 
made their nests in the boughs of the tree. 

Then the king also saw in his dream an angel 
come down from heaven and cry with a loud voice: 
“Hew down the tree and cut off the branches and 
shake off the leaves and scatter the fruit. Let the 
beasts get away from under it and drive the birds 
from the branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump 
of the tree in the ground where it shall be wet with 
the dew from heaven/ 7 

When the king awoke from this dream he sent for 
the magicians and wise men and told them of it, but 
they could not explain the meaning of the dream to 
the king. He then sent for Daniel and said to him: 
“Daniel, all the wise men of my kingdom are not 
able to explain to me the dream which I have had, 




336 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


but you are able to do so for the spirit of God is 
in you.” He then told Daniel about his dream. 

Daniel was troubled for about an hour and was 
afraid to tell the king the meaning of his dream, but 
Nebuchadnezzar told him not to let the dream nor 
the interpretation trouble him, but to speak out 
what was in his mind. 

Daniel then interpreted the dream of the king: 
“0, king, the tree which you saw which grew and 
was strong and whose height reached to heaven and 
whose branches reached to the ends of the earth 
and whose leaves were fair and whose fruit was 
abundant, under which the beasts of the field lay 
dowm to rest and in whose branches the birds of the 
air did roost, that tree, 0, king, is you, yourself. 
You have grown and become strong, your greatness 
reaches to heaven and your dominion is to the ends 
of the earth.” 

Daniel, furthermore, said to the king: “The voice 
of the angel which you heard means that you shall 
be driven from the sight of men and from your dwell- 
ing and you shall live with the beasts of the field 
and shall eat grass as an ox. This you shall do for 
seven years until you shall know that God is the 
ruler of men and greater than you.” 

It came to pass just as Daniel had said. At the 
end of the twelve months the king was walking in 




THE MADNESS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR 337 


his palace. He was still vain and proud and said 
to those around him: “Is not Babylon a great city? 
I have built it up by the might of my power and for 
the honor of my majesty.’’ His heart filled with 
pride when he saw the gold and the silver and the 
statues and the many ornaments which he had 
captured from his enemies. He looked at the great 
walls which were strong enough to resist any enemy 
and gazed upon the mountain which he had built 
and planted with flowers to please his beautiful 
wife. 

Hardly had he spoken before a voice came from 
heaven, saying: “Nebuchadnezzar, your kingdom 
has departed from you. You shall lose your reason 
and dwell apart from men and be like unto the 
beasts of the field.” 

And it happened as the voice said, for that very 
same hour Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind and went 
forth from his beautiful palace and many friends and 
much wealth and dwelt in the fields and ate grass 
like an ox and his body was wet with the dew of 
heaven, his hair grew long like the feathers of an 
eagle and the nails of his fingers and toes became 
like the claws of birds. Everybody shunned him 
and spoke of him as the mad king who was no 
longer fit to rule. 

Seven years passed, and one day Nebuchadnezzar 




338 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


lifted up his eyes to heaven and suddenly his under¬ 
standing came back to him. He returned to his 
kingdom and put on again his raiment and lived 
again in his palace, surrounded by his nobles. But 
he was no longer the vain and proud man, but a 
humble king who worshiped God and kept His 
commandments. He said: “I praise and honor the 
King of Heaven who is greater than I or any other 
man.” 

THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL 

There was a king of Babylon, named Belshazzar. 
He made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, 
and drank wine with them. While he was drinking, 
he ordered his servants to bring the glasses and silver 
vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the 
temple in Jerusalem many years before so that he 
and his companions might drink out of them. His 
servants brought the vessels and Belshazzar and 
his friends drank wine out of them, at the same time 
praising their own gods of brass, and iron, and 
wood, and stone. This was a very wicked thing to 
do and God prepared a punishment for the king, as 
we shall see. 

While the feast was going on there came a man’s 
hand and wrote on the wall of the room where they 




THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL 


339 


sat, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote 
the words. He was so alarmed at seeing the hand 
writing words on the wall that he grew pale, and 
his thoughts troubled him, and his knees trembled 
with fear. 

“ Bring the wise men that they may read and 
explain this writing,” cried Belshazzar. “Whoever 
reads this writing and shows me the interpretation 
of it, shall be clothed in scarlet and have a chain of 
gold about his neck and be the third ruler in the 
kingdom.” 

The wise men came in and looked at the writing, but 
no one of them could read it nor make known its mean¬ 
ing. The king was still more troubled in his mind. 

The queen came into the banquet house and, 
when she saw how the king was troubled she said 
to him: “Let not your thoughts trouble you nor 
your face be so sad. There is a man in your king¬ 
dom, named Daniel, in whom is the spirit of the 
Holy God. Your father, Nebuchadnezzar, made 
him master of the magicians and ruler over the 
wise men. Let him be called and he will show you 
the meaning of the writing/' 

Daniel was brought before the king. “Are you 
Daniel, of the children of Judah, whom my father 
brought from Jerusalem?" asked Belshazzar, and 
Daniel told him he was. 




340 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


“I have heard of you/ 7 said the king, “and how 
you interpret dreams and strange signs and dis¬ 
solve doubts. Now, if you can read the writing and 
make known to me the meaning you shall be clothed 
in scarlet, and have a chain of gold about your 
neck and be the third ruler in the kingdom. 77 

Daniel looked at the writing and at once knew 
the meaning of it. He answered the king: “Keep 
your gifts and rewards for another, but I will read 
the writing and tell you the meaning thereof. 77 

Then Daniel told Belshazzar that in times past 
God had given to Nebuchadnezzar a great kingdom 
and much glory and honor; that all nations and 
people trembled before him and were afraid of him; 
that his heart was lifted up with pride and vanity, 
so much so, that God had driven him out into the 
fields for a while and made him eat grass like an ox. 
“But as for you, 77 continued Daniel, “you have not 
humbled your heart, though you knew all these 
things. You have brought the vessels of the Lord 7 s 
house and you and your companions have defiled 
them by drinking wine from them, and praising 
your own gods. 77 

Then Daniel pointed to the writing on the wall 
and said to the king: “This is what is written: 
Mene, Mene , Tekel Upharsin. Mene: God hath 
taken your kingdom and finished it; Tekel : You 





DANIEL IN THE LIONS’ DEN 


341 


are weighed in the balance and found wanting; 
Upharsin : Your kingdom is divided, and is given to 
the Medes and Persians / y 

This was not at all pleasing to Belshazzar, but, 
according to his promise, he ordered Daniel to be 
clothed in scarlet, and a chain of gold to be put 
around his neck. He then issued a decree that he 
should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 

That very night, however, Cyrus came with an 
army of Medes and Persians and entered the city 
of Babylon. He did this by changing the course of 
the River Euphrates, which ran under the wall of 
Babylon and through the city so that the bed of 
the river was dry ground on which his soldiers 
could walk. 

The people were celebrating their feast and were 
given over to revelry. Belshazzar was slain, and 
Darius, the king of the Medes and Persians, took 
the kingdom of Babylon for his own. In this way 
was the prophecy of Daniel fulfilled. 

DANIEL IN THE LIONS’ DEN 

After Darius had captured the city of Babylon, 
he set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty 
princes. Over these princes he set three presidents, 
of whom Daniel was the first. This made Daniel 





342 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the chief man in the kingdom of Darius, and every¬ 
body was required to pay him the greatest respect 
and homage. 

The princes and the presidents were jealous of 
the power of Daniel, and envious of the respect 
that the people paid him. They tried to find some 
occasion to complain to the king, or some fault in 
Daniel, but they could find nothing against him, 
for he was faithful in all things and there was no 
fault or error in anything he did. 

The princes and presidents then said: “We shall 
not find any occasion against Daniel, unless we find 
it in the way he serves his God. In all other things 
there is no fault in him. We will conspire against 
him on account of his worship of the Lord.” 

They went to King Darius, and said to him: 
“All the presidents and princes and governors and 
counsellors and captains have consulted together, 
and they wish for the king to make a law that 
whosoever shall ask anything of god or man for 
thirty days, except from the king himself, shall be 
cast into the den of lions. They pray for the king 
to sign the writing that it be not changed according 
to the laws of the Medes and Persians.” 

Darius was persuaded to issue the decree and to 
sign the order, which, according to the law, could 
not be changed. 




DANIEL IN THE LIONS’ DEN 


343 


When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, 
he paid no attention to it, but went into his house, 
and, his windows being open in his room toward 
Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a 
day, and prayed and gave thanks to God, just as 
he had been accustomed to do. 

The men who had asked the king to sign the 
decree were watching Daniel to see what he would 
do. When they saw Daniel kneeling and praying 
to God as he had always done, they went forthwith 
to the king and said: 

“0 king, have you not signed a decree that every 
man that shall ask a petition of any god or any 
man for thirty days, except of the king himself, 
shall be cast into the den of lions?” 

“What you say is true, and cannot be changed, 
according to the laws of the Medes and Persians,” 
replied Darius, the king. 

“Daniel, who is one of the Jews in captivity and 
is also the chief of the presidents of the kingdom, 
regards not the decree,” said the men, “but prays 
and makes petitions to his God three times a day.” 

When the king heard that his favorite ruler had 
paid no attention to his decree, he was grieved and 
did not know what to do. He did not wish to punish 
his faithful servant, yet he knew he could not 
change his own laws. Therefore he commanded 




344 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


that Daniel be brought and cast into the lions’ den. 

Before the order was carried out, Darius said to 
Daniel: “Your God, whom you serve continually, 
will deliver you from the mouth of the lions.” Then 
the men cast Daniel into the den of lions, and a 
stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of 
the den, and the king sealed it with his own seal, 
so that his decree might not be changed. 

Darius went to his house in deep trouble. He 
would not eat, nor would he listen to the music 
which was played before him. All night long he lay 
awake wondering what had become of Daniel, and 
if he were yet alive. 

Early in the morning he arose and hurried to the 
den where the lions were kept. He had but little 
hope that the wild beasts had spared his servant, 
but he wished to be sure. As he came near the 
door he called out in a tearful voice: “0, Daniel, 
servant of the living God, is your God, whom you 
serve continually, able to save you from the lions?” 

What was the joy in the king’s heart when he 
heard the quiet voice of his servant say: “O, king, 
live forever. My God has sent His angels to shut 
the mouth of the lions and they have not hurt me. 
God knew that I was innocent of any wrong toward 
Him and toward you, therefore, has He saved me 
from the fury of the wild beasts.” 





JONAH IS SWALLOWED BY A GREAT FISH 345 


Darius was exceedingly glad to know that Daniel 
was safe, and at once commanded his men to break 
the seal and roll away the stones and take his ser¬ 
vant out of the den. And he also commanded that 
the men who had conspired against Daniel, with 
their wives and children, should be cast into the den. 

So Daniel was taken out of the den and the wicked 
princes and their families were thrown into the 
lions. The wild beasts caught them as they fell and 
broke all their bones to pieces before they had even 
touched the bottom of the den. 

After that Darius made a decree that all the 
people should worship the God of Daniel. And as 
for the prophet himself, he prospered all the time 
that Darius was king in Babylon. 

JONAH IS SWALLOWED BY A GREAT FISH 

There was a prophet named Jonah who lived in a 
small town in Israel. One day the word of the Lord 
came to him and said: “Arise and go to Nineveh, 
that great city, and cry against it for the people are 
wicked and I will punish them.” 

Now Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and 
was one of the greatest cities at that time. It is 
said that the walls that surrounded the city were 
sixty miles in length and one hundred feet high and 




346 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


so thick that three chariots could be driven side by 
side upon their top. There were one hundred tow¬ 
ers, some of them two hundred feet high, and many 
beautiful gates for the people to go in and out. 
Inside the city there were beautiful palaces, gar¬ 
dens, and wonderful temples for the worship of the 
heathen gods. It was a great, splendid and wicked 
city. 

Jonah was an humble prophet whose home was 
five hundred miles away from this great city of 
Nineveh and when the Lord told him to go and 
preach against this great and wicked city and to 
warn the people that the city would be destroyed 
he was troubled in his mind and dismayed at the 
size of his task. He said to himself: “What can I 
do, an insignificant prophet, against so mighty a 
host of heathen and so great a city as this Nine¬ 
veh?” Therefore, Jonah was afraid to undertake 
the task which the Lord had set for him to do. 

Jonah ran away from the mission which the Lord 
had set. Instead of going to Nineveh he went to 
Joppa, and there he found a ship going to Tarshish. 
It was a little town in Spain, about the end of the 
then known world. He paid his fare and went down 
into the ship, and soon was fast asleep because he 
had walked a long ways and was very tired. 

Hardly had the ship set sail, when the Lord sent ’ 




JONAH IS SWALLOWED BY A GREAT FISH 347 


a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty 
tempest so that the ship was likely to be lost with 
everybody on board. 

The sailors were much afraid and every man cried 
unto his own god to save the ship from the fury of 
the storm. They cast into the sea all the wares 
that were on the ship in order to lighten it. Still 
the storm raged and the shipmaster did not know 
what to do. He went down into the sides of the ship 
and saw Jonah fast asleep. “What do you mean 
by sleeping at such a time?” eaid he to the pro¬ 
phet. “Arise and call upon your God so that He 
may help us and that we may not perish.” 

Then every one said to his fellows: “Come, let 
us cast lots that we find out which one of us is the 
cause of this storm.” So they cast lots and the lot 
fell upon Jonah. 

The sailors then turned upon Jonah and asked 
him: “What have you done to bring this storm 
upon us, what is your occupation, and what is your 
country and who are your people, and from whence 
do you come?” 

“I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah, “and I fear the 
Lord, who is the God of heaven, and who hath made 
the sea and the dry land.” 

The men were very much afraid for they had 
heard that Jonah was a Hebrew and served the 




348 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Lord, and they said unto him again: “The anger 
of the Lord is against us.” 

Jonah then told them what the Lord had com¬ 
manded him to do and that he w T as afraid to go to 
Nineveh and was fleeing from the task which had 
been set him. 

“What shall we do to you,” asked the sailors, 
“that the sea may be calm, and that our ship may 
not be wrecked and that we be not destroyed?” 

Jonah said to them: “Take me up and cast me 
into the sea, so shall the sea be calm, for I know that 
it is on my account that this great storm is upon 
you.” 

The sailors did not wish to throw Jonah over¬ 
board, so they rowed very hard to bring the ship 
to the land, but they could not for the tempest was 
great and the waves were high. Therefore, they 
said: “We must not perish all for one man’s life.” 
Then they took up Jonah and threw him overboard 
into the sea. As soon as they did this, the winds 
stopped blowing and the sea became calm and the 
ship went upon its way. 

When Jonah was thrown overboard a great fish 
which the Lord had prepared, came out of the depths 
of the sea and swallowed up Jonah. And the pro¬ 
phet stayed in the body of the fish for three days 
and three nights. 




JONAH WARNS NINEVEH 


349 


While Jonah was inside the fish he prayed to the 
Lord to deliver him out of the body of the fish and 
he would do what the Lord had commanded him 
to do. He saw now, how wrong he had been to flee 
from the great task which had been set him and he 
promised the Lord that if he should be delivered 
from the body of the fish that he would do what¬ 
ever was commanded of him. 

After three days and three nights, the great fish 
which the Lord had prepared, came near the land 
and cast Jonah out of its mouth upon the shore. 
The prophet arose and walked to his home in Israel and 
waited the word of the Lord to tell him what to do. 

JONAH WARNS NINEVEH 

After Jonah had returned to his home, the word 
of the Lord came to him the second time and said 
to him: “Jonah, you must arise and go to Nineveh, 
which is a great and wicked city, and there you must 
preach to the people the words that I will tell you/' 

Jonah was no longer afraid to do as the Lord had 
told him, and instead of fleeing from his task, he 
undertook it with willingness. Therefore, he arose 
and walked across the Syrian desert for five hundred 
miles and at last came to the walls of the great and 
magnificent city. 




350 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


When he reached Nineveh, he entered the city 
and walked through its streets and by the sides of 
its great temples and buildings. He must have pre¬ 
sented a queer sight, this pilgrim prophet. He was 
a Jew from a far distant country with a pack on his 
back and a staff in his hand. He was poor and 
unknown and a stranger among strange people, yet 
he was not afraid, for he began at once to cry up 
and down the streets: “Forty days from now Nine¬ 
veh shall be overthrown.” 

He kept on saying these words, telling the people 
where he came from and why the city would be de¬ 
stroyed unless they should repent of their wicked¬ 
ness. At first they paid little attention to him but 
after a while they began to take heed. They already 
knew of the wonders that the God of Israel had 
performed and had heard that the words of the pro¬ 
phets had come true. 

The people of Nineveh began to listen to the 
preaching of Jonah and at last many of them be¬ 
lieved in his God and proclaimed a fast and put on 
rough clothes from the greatest of the people to 
the least of them. Thousands of the people of Nine¬ 
veh were stirred by this great revival and began to 
repent of their sins. 

Then the king of Nineveh in his great palace 
heard of the preaching of Jonah and the commo- 




JONAH WARNS NINEVEH 


351 


tion among the people. “What does all this mean, 
and what does the prophet say?” he asked of his 
officers. They told him what was going on. So he 
arose from his throne, laid aside his rich robes and 
put on rough garments and covered his body with 
ashes. The king then made a proclamation and 
sent word throughout Nineveh: “Let neither man 
nor beast, herd nor flock taste anything; let them 
not eat nor drink water; let every man and beast 
be covered with sackcloth and cry unto the God of 
Israel. Let every one turn from his evil way so that 
the God of the Hebrews will not punish us with His 
anger, nor will Nineveh perish.” 

When the Lord saw that the people were repent¬ 
ing of their sins, He decided not to destroy the city 
of Nineveh and told Jonah that He had repented 
of His words and that Nineveh would not be over¬ 
thrown. 

Strange to say, Jonah was disappointed in what 
the Lord told him, after he had expected Nineveh 
to be overthrown. He, therefore, said to the Lord: 
“Take my life from me, for it is better for me to die 
than to live, for I am now a false prophet and no 
one will believe me hereafter when I say this is the 
word of the Lord.” 

Then Jonah went out of the city and built for 
himself a little booth and hut in which he lived, and 




352 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


he sat in the shadow of it and waited to see what 
would become of the city. 

It was very hot and Jonah became faint with the 
heat and weariness of his body. Therefore, the Lord 
prepared a gourd vine and made it grow over the 
hut of Jonah so that it might be a shadow 
over his head and protect him from the heat. 
Jonah was very glad of the shade from the gourd 
vine. 

Then God sent a worm and the worm ate the 
gourd vine so that it withered. Then a hot east 
wind arose and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah 
so that he fainted and wished himself to die. He 
cried out again to the Lord: “It is better for me to 
die than live.” 

Then the Lord said to His prophet: “You have 
had pity on the gourd and did not wish it to perish, 
such a small thing as a gourd vine, which came up 
in a night and perished in the night. Because it 
flourished one day and was cut down the next day 
you have grieved and you wanted a gourd vine to 
live. Why should I not spare Nineveh, in 
which there are more than eighty thousand 
persons that do not know good from evil and 
also children and cattle?” Then Jonah knew 
that the Lord was right and he was much com¬ 
forted. 




ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN 


353 


ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN 

There were a great many Jews living in the land 
of Persia. Over this land there reigned a king named 
Ahasuerus. In the third year of his reign, he made 
a great feast for all his princes and servants in the 
city of Shushan, where he had a great palace. When 
the princes and servants came to the feast the king 
showed them all his riches and glories and enter¬ 
tained them for many months. Then the king made 
a feast unto the people that were in Shushan and 
this feast lasted seven days. 

The king lived in a magnificent palace. There 
were white, green, and blue curtains, which were 
fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver 
rings and pillars of marble. The people drank out 
of vessels of gold and were given wine and food in 
great abundance. Every man was allowed to eat 
and drink as much as he chose according to his 
pleasure. 

Vashti, the queen, also made a feast for the 
women in the royal house which belonged to the 
king. It was the custom in those days for women 
to live in a separate part of the same house and 
never show themselves to men without wearing 




354 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


veils over their faces. On the seventh day of the 
king’s feast, Ahasuerus commanded his seven cham- - 
berlains to bring Vashti, the queen, before the king, 
that the people and princes might see her beauty, 
for she was fair to look upon. Vashti refused to come 
at the king’s command. Therefore, the king was 
very angry and said to some of his princes: “What 
shall we do to Queen Vashti because she has not 
obeyed the orders of the king and has not come to 
the feast as I bade her, that the princes and people 
might see her beauty?” 

“Vashti, the queen, has done wrong to the king,” 
said one of the princes, “and also to us and to all 
the people. This deed of the queen will make all 
the women despise their husbands and they will no 
longer obey them.” 

The princes then advised King Ahasuerus to issue 
a royal commandment that Vashti should come 
no more before the king and that her royal estate 
should be given to another, who was bet¬ 
ter and more obedient than she. In this way 
all the wives of Persia would understand that 
they must honor their husbands and do as they 
were told. 

This saying pleased the king. He sent letters 
throughout his kingdom that every man should 
bear rule in his own house, and whatever he ordered 




ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN 355 

his women should obey. Then he put Vashti away 
and she was no longer his queen. 

Ahasuerus, now set out to get another queen. 
Everywhere there was a search for fair and beauti¬ 
ful young women that they might be brought to 

the king’s palace for the king himself to choose. 
The maiden which pleased the king should be queen 
instead of Vashti. 

There was a servant at the palace, named Morde- 
cai, who was a Jew and who had a cousin named 
Esther. Her mother and father were dead and 
Mordecai had taken her for his own daughter. The 
maid was fair and beautiful, so that those who were 
choosing maidens brought her also unto the king’s 
palace and gave her to the keeper of the women. 
Esther did not tell that she was a Jewess, for Morde¬ 
cai had advised her to keep her counsel. The officer 
who had charge of the women was more pleased 
with Esther than with any other of the women and 
gave her maidens to wait upon her and put her in 
the best part of the house. 

When the time came for the king to choose among 
the maidens, his heart turned towards Esther above 
all the women and she obtained grace and favor in 
his sight. He set the royal crown upon her head 
and made her queen instead of Vashti. The king 
made a great feast unto all his princes and servants 




356 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


and he called it Esther’s feast. He also gave gifts 
to the people and the servants for her sake. But all 
the time Esther was careful not to let the king know 
that she was a Jewess, for her cousin Mordecai had 
warned her to keep her own counsel. 

It so happened that two of the king’s officers 
were angry with the king and plotted to kill him. 
Mordecai, who was also a watchman at the king’s 
gate, heard them plotting against the king. He told 
Esther about it and she at once went and told the 
king. Ahasuerus ordered the two officers to be 
hanged on a tree and thus it was that Mordecai 
saved the king’s life and the king knew that Morde¬ 
cai had done it. 

There was another servant in the palace of the 
king named Haman. The king favored him a great 
deal and set him above all the other princes, so much 
so, that all his servants had to bow down and do 
reverence to him. Mordecai, however, would not 
bow down and would not do reverence to Haman. 

Those who were at the king’s gate advised Mor¬ 
decai to do as the king commanded but Mordecai 
refused. Whereupon, they went to Haman and said: 
“ Mordecai, who watches at the king’s gate will not 
bow down to you and you had better see how 
matters stand with him.” 

Haman was full of wrath and made up his mind 





THE VENGEANCE OF HAMAN 


357 


not only to destroy Mordecai but all the Jews that 
were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. 
Therefore, he went to the king and said: 

“ There is a certain people everywhere in the 
province of your kingdom, and their laws are diff- 
erent from your laws, and they do not keep the 
king’s laws, and they are dangerous to have in your 
dominion. If it please the king, let it be written 
that they may be destroyed and I will pay ten 
thousand talents into the king’s treasury.” 

The king, not thinking of the evil that he was 
about to do, agreed to the request of Haman and 
issued the decree that all the Jews in his kingdom 
should be destroyed. He sealed the decree with his 
own ring. Then the scribes wrote to the governors 
and rulers in every province in the name of the 
king and told them all the Jews, both young and 
old, women and little children, should be destroyed, 
and the decree went forth throughout Persia, even 
as the king had commanded. 


THE VENGEANCE OF HAMAN 

When Mordecai heard of the decree which had 
gone out that all the Jews should be destroyed, he 
put on sackcloth and went into the streets of the 
city and cried aloud a bitter cry. He then came to 




358 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


the king’s gate, but beyond that he could not go, 
because no one could pass the gate who was clothed 
in sackcloth. There was mourning among the Jews 
throughout every province in Persia and fasting and 
weeping and wailing. 

Esther’s maids came and told her that Mordecai 
was before the king’s gate and that he was clothed 
in sackcloth and was crying with a loud and bitter 
cry. The queen called for one of the king’s cham¬ 
berlains and told him to ask Mordecai what was 
the matter. The chamberlain went to Mordecai and 
learned of the decree of the king. He came back 
and told Esther that the king had ordered all the 
Jews in the province destroyed and that Haman 
had advised him to do it and had promised ten 
thousand talents of silver to be paid into the king’s 
treasury. The chamberlain also gave the queen a 
copy of the writing of the decree which Mordecai 
had given to him. 

Mordecai had also told the chamberlain to beg 
Esther to go to the king and make a prayer to him 
that all her people should be saved. 

Esther was greatly grieved at the decree of the 
king but she knew that it was the law that if one 
went to the king without being called, even the 
queen herself, he would be put to death by the 
king’s guards, unless the king held out his golden 




THE VENGEANCE OF HAMAN 


359 


scepter as a sign that his life should be spared. 

It had been thirty days since Esther had been 
sent for by the king and she knew if she went before 
the king the guards would slay her at the door, for 
such was the law of the palace. The chamberlain 
told Mordecai of this law and asked him what 
Esther should do. 

Mordecai sent Esther this message: “If you hold 
your peace and do not go before the king you and 
your people will be destroyed. If you go before the 
king there is a chance for your life and it may be 
you are now the one to save your people.” 

When Esther received this message she sent word 
to Mordecai to gather together all the Jews that 
were in Shushan and fast for three nights and three 
days and she and her maidens would do likewise 
and then she would go to the king and make her 
prayer. She said to herself: “If I perish, I perish, 
and there is some hope for my people if I go to the 
king.” 

Mordecai went his way and gathered all the Jews 
in Shushan and they fasted and prayed and the 
queen made ready to go before the king with her 
petition. 

On the third day, Esther put on her royal apparel 
and sat in the court of the king’s house. The king 
stood upon his royal throne with his court around him. 




360 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


When Esther appeared at the door she was very 
beautiful and very radiant. The guards, knowing 
that she had not been called, started toward her 
with their weapons in their hands according to the 
laws of the palace, but the king, seeing his queen 
standing so beautiful and so humble before him, at 
once stretched out the golden scepter which he held 
in his hand. Whereupon the guards drew back and 
Esther smilingly approached the king and touched 
the top of the scepter with her hand. 

“What is it you wish, Queen Esther, and what is 
your request, and why do you come without being 
called? Whatever you want, it shall be given to 
you, even to the half of my kingdom,” said the 
king. 

“If it seems good to my lord, the king,” replied 
the queen, “will you and Haman come unto the 
banquet that I have prepared for the king?” 

This was very pleasing to Ahasuerus and he sent 
at once for Haman to make haste and come to the 
banquet that Esther had prepared. So the king 
and Haman came to the banquet. While they were 
drinking wine, the king said to Esther: “What is 
your wish and what is your request? It shall be 
granted to you, even to the half of my kingdom.” 

Esther then told the king that she wanted him 
and Haman to come to the banquet which she had 




THE VENGEANCE OF HAMAN 


361 


prepared for the next day and then she would let 
him know what she desired the king to do for her. 
This also pleased the king, who loved his beautiful 
wife, and so he gave orders that Haman should 
come to the banquet with the queen on the following 
day. 

Haman was much delighted with the honors that 
were shown him and he went forth with a joyful 
heart. When Haman passed the king’s gate, Morde- 
cai saw him but he stood not up nor moved for 
him, therefore, was Haman full of indignation. But 
he said nothing and passed on to his own house. 

When he reached home he called for his friends 
and his wife and told them the story of his glory 
and riches and the honor which the king had done 
for him. He also said that Esther the queen had 
invited him and the king to the banquet that day, 
and there were no others except the king and him¬ 
self, and the next day he was invited to another 
banquet with her and the king. 

But all this did not soften the heart of Haman 
against Mordecai, the Jew, who sat at the king’s 
gate and scorned him. He told his friends how Mor¬ 
decai treated him and how full of rage against the 
Jew was his heart. 

Haman’s wife and friends said: “Let a gallows 
be made fifty cubits high and tomorrow ask the 




362 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


king that Mordecai may be hanged upon it; then 
you can go merrily with the king to the banquet.” 

This thing pleased Haman and he had the gal¬ 
lows made ready, thinking that thereon he would 
have his enemy hanged. 

ESTHER SAVES HER PEOPLE 

Ahasuerus, the king, was troubled in his mind 
and could not sleep. He ordered his men to bring 
him the book in which the records of his kingdom 
were kept. The king lay upon his couch while they 
read to him, and they happened to read that por¬ 
tion which told how Mordecai, the Jew, had saved 
the life of the king from the two chamberlains who 
had plotted to kill him. 

“ What honor and dignity have been done to Mor¬ 
decai for this?” demanded the king. And they told 
him that nothing had been done. 

“Who is now in the court of the palace?” asked 
the king. 

It so happened that Haman had come into the 
outer court for the very purpose of asking the king 
to hang Mordecai upon the gallows which he had 
prepared for him. The king's servants, therefore, 
answered: “Haman stands in the outer court.” 

“Let him come in,” ordered Ahasuerus. So 




ESTHER SAVES HER PEOPLE 


363 


Haman came in and stood before the king. 

“What shall be done with the man whom the 
king delights to honor?” asked Ahasuerus of him. 
Haman thought in his heart: “Whom does the 
king delight to honor more than myself?” And 
with this joyful thought he answered: 

“Let the royal apparel which the king wears, and 
the horse on which the king rides, and the royal 
crown which the king wears be brought, and let 
the apparel and the horse be given to the hand of 
one of the most noble princes and also the crown, 
that he may array the man whom the king delights 
to honor. Let the princes lead him on horseback 
with the crown on his head, and proclaim in the 
streets: “Thus it is that shall be done to the man 
whom the king delights to honor.” 

“You have answered well,” said Ahasuerus. “Make 
haste and take the apparel, and the horse, and the 
crown, and do as you have said to Mordecai, the 
Jew, that sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing be 
left undone of all you have said.” 

So Haman did as the king commanded, and him¬ 
self led through the streets of the city the horse 
upon which Mordecai sat, wearing the king’s royal 
robes and the king’s crown. Haman cried in the 
hearing of all: “This is the man whom the king 
delights to honor.” But the cry was a bitter one 




364 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


for Haman, and at the end he went to his house in 
great wrath and mortification. 

His wife and friends gathered around him to con¬ 
sole him, but they foresaw the fall of Haman before 
the king’s favor and could say but little that was 
comforting. While they were talking, the king’s 
chamberlain came to bring Haman to the banquet 
which Esther had prepared for him and for the king. 

At the banquet the king turned to his beautiful 
wife and said: “What is your petition, Queen Es¬ 
ther? And what is your request? It shall be granted 
you, even to the half of my kingdom.” 

“If I have found favor in your sight,” replied the 
queen, “and if it please the king, I pray that you 
spare my life and that of my people. We are sold 
to be destroyed and slain and to perish, and I, 
your queen, am among those whose lives are to 
be taken away.” 

Then was Ahasuerus in great wrath. “Who is 
he and where is he, who dares do such a thing?” 
asked the king in an angry voice. 

Esther turned and pointing her finger at Haman, 
said: “The man who has dared to do this is Haman, 
for he has plotted to destroy all the Jews in your 
kingdom. Mordecai, who saved your life and I, 
Esther, your queen, are of that tribe. I pray you, 
avenge us of our wicked enemy.” 




ESTHER SAVES HER PEOPLE 


365 


The king arose from the banquet in his wrath 
and went into the palace garden. His face was 
clouded and his heart was full of anger. Haman 
saw him go and knew that the king would not spare 
him. He stood trembling before Esther and begged 
her to intercede with the king that he be not slain. 
Esther gave him no answer and Haman fell upon 
the queen’s couch, not knowing what he did. 

Soon Ahasuerus returned from the garden and 
saw Haman lying upon the queen’s couch. This 
made him angrier than ever and he called for his 
men to get him and take him out of the palace and 
keep him until he should decide what to do with 
him. 

One of the king’s men came in and said: “Haman 
has made a gallows, fifty cubits high, upon which 
he had hoped to hang Mordecai, the Jew, who 
saved the king’s life. The gallows yet stand in the 
yard of Haman.” 

The king turned to the man and said: “Take 
Haman and hang him thereon.” And so they 
hanged Haman upon the gallows which he had pre¬ 
pared for Mordecai, and the king’s wrath was 
appeased. 

Then Esther told Ahasuerus that Mordecai was 
her kinsman, and the king gave him a ring which 
he had taken from Haman. The king gave Haman’s 




366 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


house to Esther, who gave it to Mordecai and put 
him in charge of it. Then the question arose as to 
what was to be done to save all the Jews 
that the king had decreed to be slain upon a certain 
day. 

Esther went to the king and knelt down before 
him. She had tears in her eyes as she said: “How 
can I endure to see the destruction of my people?” 
And she prayed the king to reverse the decree which 
he had issued. 

The king could not reverse his own decree, but 
he issued another one in which he said: “All the 
Jews in all the provinces of my kingdom will stand 
together and fight for their lives.” And the decree 
was sent forth under the king’s seal to all the people 
in all the provinces, and there was great rejoicing 
among the Jews and they made ready to defend 
themselves. 

When the day came the Jews smote all their 
enemies with the sword for the Lord was with them, 
and they took vengeance upon them that hated 
them. And Mordecai went out from the presence 
of the king in royal robes of blue and white and with 
a crown of gold upon his head. The city of Shushan 
rejoiced and was glad, for the people loved Morde¬ 
cai and paid him great respect. And he was next 
to Ahasuerus himself and great among the people, 




THE RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY 


367 


for he sought only the welfare of the king and the 
glory of his kingdom. 


THE RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY 

The Jews had been in captivity in Babylon for 
seventy years. During this time some of them were 
allowed lands and houses of their own, and a few 
had become wealthy. Most of them, however, were 
slaves and were treated with cruelty. They were 
made to work hard, were often beaten severely, 
and many were put to death. Nearly all those who 
were made captive had died, and we may well 
imagine how their children longed for the time to 
come when they should return to Jerusalem and 
live in the land of their fathers. 

Cyrus was now king of Persia. The Lord stirred 
up his spirit so that he made a proclamation in 
which he said: “The Lord has given me all the 
kingdoms of the earth, and has charged me to build 
him a house at Jerusalem.” 

The proclamation called upon all the Jews in 
Babylon to go to Jerusalem and there build, the 
temple of the Lord, and also called upon the people 
of Persia to help them by giving them silver and 
gold and cattle and goods and free-will offerings of 
all kinds. Cyrus even brought all the vessels which 




368 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple and 
counted them out, to the number of five thousand, 
four hundred, and gave them to Zerubbabel, a 
prince of Judah, who was going to Jerusalem with 
his people, that the vessels might again be placed 
in the temple of the Lord. 

So the Jews, to the number of about fifty thous¬ 
and, marched back to Jerusalem, led by Zerub¬ 
babel. When they reached the city they found it 
in ruins, just as Nebuchadnezzar had left it. The 
temple had been burned, the houses were destroyed, 
and the walls were broken down. The first thing 
which the people did was to build an altar unto the 
Lord and offer burnt offerings upon it, morning 
and evening. 

Then they set to work to rebuild the temple. 
They hired laborers from Tyre to cut down cedars 
from Lebanon and bring them to Jerusalem, and 
gave the laborers meat and drink. They also paid 
money to the carpenters and masons who worked 
upon the temple. When the stones were laid the 
priests and Levites played* upon trumpets and 
cymbals. The people shouted and gave praise to 
God because the building of the temple was started. 
But there were some old people who wept and 
mourned because they remembered the wonderful 
temple which stood there when they were children. 




THE RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY 


369 


The Samaritans, who worshiped idols, though 
they pretended to worship God, came to Zerub- 
babel and said to him: “Let us build with you, for 
we serve the same God.” But Zerubbabel told them: 
“We will have nothing to do with you. We will 
build the house of the Lord ourselves.” This made 
the Samaritans angry and they did all they could 
to hinder the Jews in their work of building the 
temple. 

When Cyrus died, Artaxerxes became king of 
Persia. The Samaritans wrote him a letter in which 
they said: “If you allow these Jews to build this 
city of Jerusalem and set up these walls again, they 
will rebel as they did in the old time and no more 
pay toll and tribute.” 

Artaxerxes searched the records and found that 
the Jews had been a rebellious people in former 
days, so he wrote a letter to the Samaritans saying: 
“Command the Jews in my name, to cease building 
the temple.” This order the Samaritans hastened 
to carry to the Jews and then the building of the 
temple was stopped so long as Artaxerxes was king. 
The people turned their attention to building houses 
for themselves. 

Artaxerxes died and Darius became king of Persia. 
The Lord sent prophets to the people of Jerusalem, 
who told them to leave off building their own houses 




370 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


and start again to build the temple of the Lord. So 
the temple was started again, and again the Samari¬ 
tans troubled the people of Jerusalem and wrote a 
letter to Darius, the same as they had done to Arta- 
xerxes. But this time they met with no success, for 
Darius answered that they must not only leave 
Jerusalem alone, but that they must give the Jews 
young bullocks and rams for their burnt offerings, 
and wheat and oil for the priests. Darius also said 
that some of the tribute money which the Samari¬ 
tans had been paying to him should now be paid 
to the Jews. 

The Samaritans were afraid to disobey the king. 
They stopped troubling the Jews, and gave them 
bullocks and rams and wheat and oil as Darius had 
commanded them. So the Jews went on building 
their beautiful temple until it was quite finished. 
Then they placed in it all the gold ves¬ 
sels which they had brought back with them 
from captivity, and dedicated the temple to the 
Lord. 

From this time on the Jews had no trouble with 
their enemies. They went on building their houses, 
and cultivating their fields and working their vine¬ 
yards, and worshiping in their temple. They were 
not serving the Lord, however, as faithfully as they 
should, for many of them had married the heathen 




THE RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY 


371 


women of the nations around them, which the Lord 
had commanded them not to do. 

There was a Jew still living in Babylon, named 
Ezra. He was a priest and teacher, and learned in 
the laws of Moses. He begged the king of Babylon 
to let him go to Jerusalem and teach his people 
their own laws that they might serve God more 
faithfully. The king agreed to this and loaded Ezra 
and his companions with many costly gifts of gold 
and silver for the temples and the priests. 

After a long journey the company came to Jer¬ 
usalem, and Ezra gave the presents to the priests 
and Levites to be placed in the temple. When he 
heard how the men of Israel had married heathen 
wives he was grieved and sat down in great dis¬ 
tress. Then he prayed to the Lord to deliver the 

people from their transgressions. 

Word was sent throughout all the land of Judah 
for the people to come together. If any one did not 
come inside of three days, he should have his goods 
and his cattle and everything he had taken away 
from him. All the people came inside of three days, 
and gathered near the temple to hear what Ezra 
had to say. They were trembling with fear of the 
anger of the Lord. At the same time a great rain 
was falling and the people were wet to their skins. 

Ezra called out to the people: “You have broken 




372 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


God’s law, and taken heathen wives. You must 
put away the strange women, and do as the Lord 
commanded you.” The people answered: “We will 
do as you say, but we cannot stand always in the 
rain. Let those who have offended come to the 
judgment.” Then the people departed, and those 
who had strange wives came to Ezra to be judged. 

Ezra and the judges sat for three months, decid¬ 
ing each man’s case, as he came before them. All 
who had heathen wives confessed their sins and 
promised to send their wives away. Then Ezra 
told all the people what they should do to keep the 
favor of the Lord. 

NEHEMIAH REBUILDS THE WALLS OF 

JERUSALEM 

Ninety years passed since Zerubbabel had led the 
people of Israel back to Jerusalem. The temple had 
been rebuilt, the people were living in houses, and 
were planting their vineyards just as they had done 
in the olden days. Still the walls had not been re¬ 
built, but were left in ruins, so that the city was 
open to attack from its enemies. 

Artaxerxes was the name of the king of Persia. 
He had a cupbearer named Nehemiah, who attended 
him in his palace at Shushan. One day some men 




NEHEMIAH REBUILDS WALLS OF JERUSALEM 373 


came from Jerusalem and Nehemiah asked them: 
“How fare the Jews who were led out of captivity?” 
The men replied: “The Jews are in great affliction 
and reproach. The walls of Jerusalem are broken 
down and the gates are burned with fire.” 

Then Nehemiah wept and prayed, and made up 
his mind to ask the king to allow him to go to Jeru¬ 
salem and rebuild the walls of the city of his fathers. 
Nehemiah was very sad and his face showed his grief. 
One day as he handed wine to the king, Artaxerxes 
asked him: “Why are you so sad, seeing you are 
not sick? You have some sorrow in your heart.” 

Nehemiah then told the king he was sorrowing 
on account of the walls of Jerusalem not being built 
and said: “If it please the king let me be sent to 

A 

the city of my fathers that I may rebuild the walls.” 

“How long will your journey take you?” inquired 
Artaxerxes. “And how soon will you return?” Neh¬ 
emiah told him and the king consented for him to go. 

Nehemiah came to Jerusalem but told no one why 
he had come. At the end of three days, he arose at 
night secretly and took a few men with him, and 
examined the walls of the city. He rode around the 
ruins and saw the broken places and the gates that 
had been burned and wept again to think how easily 
the city could be captured by its enemies. 

Then Nehemiah called all the Jews together and 




374 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


said to them: “You see the condition you are in, 
and how much danger there is to you. Come, let us 
rebuild the walls that our enemies do not overcome 
us.” After he had talked to the people a long time 
he persuaded them to set to work. The priests and 
Levites, all the people, even some of the women, 
began to build its wails. 

Now there arose the enemies of the Jews and 
began to make fun of them. “What are these feeble 
Jews doing? Are they trying to fortify themselves? 
Can they build a wall out of the rubbish of the 
streets?” asked one of their leaders. 

“If they build a wall,” said another, “even a fox 
if he should climb over it would break it down.” 
And with that all the enemies laughed at what the 
Jews were doing. But the workmen paid no atten¬ 
tion to the scoffers and kept straight on building 
the walls as Nehemiah directed them. After a while 
the wall was built half way up all around the city, 
for the people had worked with a will. The gates 
were put in and strengthened, and it looked as if 
the Jews were building a defence that could not be 
taken down. 

When the heathen enemies of the Jews saw that 
the walls were being built and the broken places 
mended they were very angry, and conspired to¬ 
gether to fight the Jews and stop them from their 




NEHEMIAH REBUILDS WALLS OF JERUSALEM 375 


work. The heathen planned to come secretly and 
not to be known until they were in the midst of 
the workmen, when they would draw their weapons 
and slay all the Jews. But Nehemiah was told of 
their purpose and set men behind the wall with 
swords and spears to protect the workmen. When 
the heathen heard that the Jews were prepared to 
defend themselves they did not come to fight them. 

From that time on half the workmen were kept 
laboring on the walls, while the other half were 
armed with spears and swords to defend those who 
worked. Nehemiah seeing that the walls were long 
and that the workmen were separated from one 
another set a trumpeter on the walls, whose duty it 
was to sound his trumpet to call all the workmen 
together at one point as well as to call those who 
carried the spears and swords in case an enemy 
appeared anywhere. 

The people labored day after day and the walls 
rose higher and higher. Stones were brought from 
a distance to take the place of the broken ones, 
and those that were not broken were put back in 
place. Thousands of the people worked on the walls, 
while thousands stood guard day and night to pro¬ 
tect them. The women and children brought food 
and water to the laborers and did what else they 
could to hasten the work. So eagerly did the people 




376 


HEROES OF ISRAEL 


labor that neither Nehemiah nor any of the men 
took off their clothes day and night except to have 
them washed. 

While the work was going on, two of the enemies 
of Israel, named Sanballat and Tobiah, sent word 
to Nehemiah: “Come down into some one of the 
villages that we may meet and talk together.” But 
Nehemiah knew they intended him harm and he 
sent word to them: “I am doing a great work and 
I cannot come down. Why should my work stop 
just to come down to talk to you?” 

Four times did Sanballat send word to Nehemiah 
to come down to see him in one of the villages, and 
four times did Nehemiah return him the same 
answer. 

Then Sanballat and Tobiah sent Nehemiah a 
letter telling him they would report to the king of 
Persia that he was building the walls in order to 
set up the city for himself, and to rebel against the 
king. But Nehemiah paid no attention to the 
letter and kept on building the wall. 

Again Sanballat and Tobiah hired a man named 
Shemaiah to deceive Nehemiah and frighten him. 
Shemaiah went to him and said: “Come down into 
the temple with me and shut the doors, for there 
are those who also seek to slay you. This very night 
they seek your life.” 




NEHEMIAH REBUILDS WALLS OF JERUSALEM 377 


“Should a man flee at such a time as this?” 
replied Nehemiah. “Why should I go into the 
temple to save my life? I am not afraid, and I will 
not go in and shut the door for fear that some one 
will slay me.” 

Then Nehemiah knew that Shemaiah had been 
hired to frighten him, and that what he said was 
not true. 

Fifty-two days had all the people labored, and at 
last the great walls were finished. When the time 
came to dedicate the walls, the people with the priests 
and Levites walked around the top singing and blow¬ 
ing trumpets and playing harps. They marched 
down into the temple and offered sacrifice to God for 
taking care of them, for bringing them back into 
their own city, for defending them from their en¬ 
emies, and for allowing them to build again the 
walls around Jerusalem. 


THE END 












































• * 








. 
































- 





















































































L 













































































SEP 11 1923 













































